The First Snowfall
by PixieSpriteify
Summary: RedBeauty, Belle's first experience of snow for a long time, and Ruby tags along for some fun. May turn into a series if received well, comments are greatly appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Hey, this is my first OUAT fic, I may turn this into a series, depending on the feedback, which is much appreciated, so please leave a comment. I apologise for any mistakes.

* * *

"Belle? Are you alright?" asked Ruby across the table as she sat opposite the curly brunette. Ruby had been watching Belle for the past few minutes from the counter, and she had been concerned over her new friend's expression. She sat, staring into her glass of iced tea that Ruby had brought her, knowing it was her favourite.

"Hmm?" was the reply, as Belle looked up abruptly, and looked confused for a moment, but then recognised Ruby, and her face split into a wide smile. "No, no, no, I'm fine, just thinking."

Ruby could still see that Belle was troubled by something, but chose to let it go.

"Okay, but if you need someone to talk to, you know where I am," Ruby said warmly, a strange fluttering in her stomach and an inexplicable feeling of loss as she turned away to go back to the kitchen to deal with the other orders.

Ruby finished up her shift and checked the time. It was quarter past eight, and she would be turning soon. It was the first night of wolfstime, and she could feel the wolf yearning to be let free. She tidied up and made to leave the diner, reaching for her coat. A small noise made her stop and she turned to see Belle still sitting in the booth, her head buried in a book. Ruby smiled warmly and walked over to her, careful not to startle her.

"Belle?" she said softly. Belle looked up from the page, and returned Ruby's smile. Then she noticed how quiet it was, and looked around.

"Where is everyone?" she asked, before realisation dawned on her face as her eyes fell upon the clock. "Oh, Ruby, I'm so sorry, I lost track of time," she said, apologising profusely as she got to her feet.

"No, it's fine, I was just leaving."

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then."

Ruby felt a pang of loss as she saw the mane of brown curls bounce away from her towards the door. Her eyes had met Belle's for a split second, and amidst those pools of ocean blue, she saw something was wrong. Something was hurting her. Acting without thinking, Ruby hurried after Belle, placing a hand on her arm as she opened the door.

"Hey, if you want, we could walk and talk?" she said quickly. Belle stopped and looked at her, a bemused expression on her face. "I'm going for a bit of a walk anyway, I mean, if you don't mind me walking you back." Ruby cursed herself for her choice of words, but for some reason, her powers of speech were generally impaired when she was around the librarian, but she stuck with it and waited for an answer. Belle still looked a little perplexed, but her smile lit up her eyes as she said:

"Of course, I'd love some company." Ruby reached past Belle and opened the door, pretending not to notice just how close they were for a few seconds, and then, as she held open the door for Belle, not to be simultaneously apprehensive and also joyous on the inside, her heart leaping and her stomach fluttering at the same time.

After locking up the diner, Ruby walked on the pavement next to Belle, hands stuffed into her black jacket pockets, she took a deep breath and noticed Belle shivering slightly.

"Cold?" asked Ruby.

"Very. I almost forgot how it feels to be outside. Especially this time of year, I miss the snow."

"I love snow, and winter in general."

They continued with small talk as they walked, both of them thoroughly enjoying each other's company, until they reached the library door, and Belle fumbled in her pocket for the key.

"Thank you for walking me back," said Belle.

"No problem," replied Ruby with the smile that simply refused to leave her face around Belle. "I'll see you tomorrow?" It wasn't quite a question, or an expectation, more of an invitation.

"Of course, it's nice to have someone to talk to. And I do love your iced tea."

Ruby lingered for a moment on the step of the library, one down from Belle, so they were approximately the same height. She let her eyes drift over Belle's face, coming to rest on her eyes, just as Belle's performed the same routine, staring into each other's eyes. Almost imperceptibly, Ruby leaned forwards, barely an inch, and Belle seemed about to move towards the lycan too. The moment was so intense, the pair growing steadily closer and closer, time standing still for them both, their hearts beating so fast they were sure they would keel over. Then, a rare car drove past, the noise shattering the moment like a glass pane shattering into a thousand pieces. Ruby and Belle simultaneously pulled back, both only just noticing the breath they had been holding.

"Well, uhm…" said Ruby, trying to fill the awkward silence. Belle smiled coyly, looking slightly embarrassed as she glanced at her feet, before looking back up at Ruby, her eyes quickly stopping on her eyes before moving away again.

"Thanks again for a lovely evening," said Belle, opening the door.

"You're very welcome, Belle," replied Ruby. She felt herself leaning forwards and wrapping her arms around Belle, her head resting on the shorter woman's shoulder. Breathing in the scent of her hair, she smiled, and could sense that Belle was smiling too.

"Oh," gasped Belle suddenly, and Ruby tensed whipping round and looking for the source of Belle's shock.

"What is it?" asked Ruby, scanning the street for a figure, probably Mr Gold, she guessed, but could see no one.

"Snow," said Belle, in such a small voice that Ruby wouldn't have been able to hear it without her wolf senses. Ruby instantly relaxed, looking back to Belle. "It's beautiful."

"It is," came the reply, though her eyes weren't on the weather. Belle looked lost for a moment, lost in the beauty of the scene around her, wondering absently how small flakes of frozen water could be that pretty in the moonlight… the full moonlight!

"Oh God, I'm so sorry, Ruby, I forgot it was the full moon tonight! I'm sorry I kept you, you probably want to be by yourself-"

"No, no, don't be ridiculous, it's fine." Ruby paused. "I like talking to you."

Belle chuckled, looking down at her feet – a gesture Ruby found most endearing – and put a hand on Ruby's arm.

"I like talking to you too," she smiled, in that lovely smile that Ruby loved to see.

"Well, we should do it again sometime."

"We should." Belle sighed contentedly, and then cast her gaze back onto the snow, which was falling heavier and quicker, already coating the ground in pure white, the ever so slight breeze blowing the flakes lazily over the town. "I might actually go for a wander for a while… well, I'll grab a scarf first." Belle laughed, and then looked back at Ruby, a concerned look crossing her features. "Or should I stay inside, after what happened last time…" she tailed off, remembering the events of the previous month.

Ruby too was reliving the memory of chaining Belle in the library, an action she regretted whole-heartedly, and had apologised over a hundred times for, but still felt guilty.

"I'm so sorry-" she began, but was silenced by Belle's 'stop-apologising' look. "No, you're fine for tonight, I'm not killing anyone."

"Oh good, I might run into you, I apologise if I scream," she laughed, a tinkling sound that set Ruby's soul alight.

"I'll be careful not to startle you," Ruby replied. She felt the wolf howl inside her, knowing she had to turn soon. "I should go, I'll look out for you though." Ruby turned to descend the steps.

"Thank you, be careful," Belle called after her.

"You too!"

Belle wandered across the street, her boots crunching over the snow, the flakes landing on her hair and dark coat that went down to her knees, her legs covered by her dress and leggings. Her breath fogged up the air in front of her, the air pleasantly chilled. She walked down to the harbour, walking at a leisurely pace, her path lit by the streetlamps and the moonlight. A few times she thought she heard a wolf howling in the distance, and this brought a smile to her face, knowing it was Ruby. Anything to do with Ruby made her smile. To be perfectly honest, the girl hadn't completely left her thoughts for a long time, something always reminded her of the girl. The implications of this scared her a little, but she was also inexplicably happy around her, a strange fluttering in her stomach every now and then. The hug earlier seemed to be burned permanently into her head; she was unable to stop thinking about it. Not that she'd want to, she reasoned. She came to the edge of the pier ad rested her elbows on the railing, looking down onto the water, where white snowflakes landed and melted instantly, disappearing forever. Losing herself in her thoughts for a minute, she snapped back to reality when she heard movement somewhere behind her. She turned, eyes squinting through the darkness surrounding her, just outside the light of the streetlamp beside her. Suddenly, a large dark object bounded towards her, and she all but screamed before the shadowy creature jumped up on her and licked her face. Still paralysed with fear, she nearly fell over, having to lean against the icy cold metal railing to prevent her from falling. Finally, her brain caught up with events, and she realised, as her gloved hands brushed against snow covered dark fur, that this must be Ruby.

"Down, Ruby!" she laughed, trying to pull her head back, out of Ruby's licking range. The wolf seemed to grin a little, her yellow eyes glowing, and Ruby gave Belle one more lick, before dropping to the ground in a sitting position, her tail wagging, throwing flurries of snow in every direction.

"Hello," said Belle, looking Ruby up and down in her wolf form. She knelt on the ground and reached out to stroke Ruby's head, who complied immediately, nuzzling her hand with her snout. Belle chuckled and stood up.

"Want to come for a walk?" she asked, half-joking, she wasn't entirely sure how much Ruby understood as a wolf, but she seemed to understand that perfectly, as she jumped up and performed some sort of twirl in the air, before diving headfirst into a snow drift a short way away, just to make Belle laugh. And it worked like a charm. Belle set off along the path, not really paying much attention to where she was going, and Ruby followed, sometimes trotting alongside her, occasionally darting forwards and backwards, sprinting off into the distance before bounding back, lolloping around in the deep snow. They stopped in the park, when the snow was about shin deep, and Ruby was treated to a snowball to the back of the head, which resulted in Belle being chased around the park, and eventually being leapt on from the front and knocking her onto her back, the large wolf pinning her down.

"Get off me, you mutt!" teased Belle, struggling against Ruby's weight. Ruby growled indignantly, but her tail was still wagging, thumping against Belle's right leg. Ruby licked her face, and Belle playfully shoved her off, wriggling free and grabbing a lump of snow. She hurled it at Ruby, who jumped and caught it in her wide jaws. Belle laughed and threw another, this time in another direction, causing Ruby to sprint and leap, twisting in mid-air, snapping the snow in her sharp teeth. They continued this game for a while, until Ruby heard Belle's teeth start to chatter. Ruby loped back to Belle's side, panting slightly, and nuzzled her side. Belle checked the time on her phone, and realised it was just past eleven. She had been out for about three hours and she hadn't even noticed! The snow had collected on her jacket and the cold was seeping through, her feet had gone numb a long time ago and her hands were like ice. Ruby seemed to realise, as she kept warming up her hands on her fur. Belle was glad of that, and appreciated Ruby's concern. Belle began to walk home, a calmer Ruby trotting along beside her. The snow had eased off a little, but it still required effort to trudge through the deepening snow back to the library.

Belle was thoroughly exhausted when she reached the door. She kicked the snow off of her boots on the top step and opened the door. Walking through the door, she was about to close it, when she saw Ruby sitting at the bottom of the steps, pawing the ground somewhat nervously.

"Uhm… would you like to come in for a while?" she asked, Ruby looked up, as if searching for reassurance. Belle smiled warmly and Ruby leapt up the steps and dashed through the door, shaking the snow off her fur, most of it landing on Belle.

"Ruby!" she exclaimed, more amused than annoyed. Belle went to the door that led up to the apartment above the library, Ruby in tow. She let herself and the wolf in, and shrugged off her soaked coat, hanging it up and pulling off her boots. As soon as she reached the sofa, she collapsed onto it, lying with her feet up on the cushions, stretching out and yawning. Opening her eyes, she glanced at Ruby, who was standing awkwardly at the door, looking around the room which, Belle quickly realised; she had never been in before. Belle patted the couch, gesturing for Ruby to come over. Ruby pawed across the carpet and gently licked Belle's face, before sitting next to the couch. Belle lazily stroked her slightly damp but comfortably warm fur.

"Thank you for your delightful company," she mumbled, tiredness taking over her. The apartment was a little chilly, as she had forgotten to turn the heating on earlier. Ruby saw the goosebumps on Belle's arms, and jumped up onto the couch, curling up, her head resting on Belle's chest, her head nuzzling Belle's neck, and felt Belle's arms wrap around her.

Both woman and wolf were perfectly content to lie there for the whole night, and both dozed off, Ruby warming Belle and Belle stroking Ruby's fur.


	2. Chapter 2

Belle woke up, but found her movement was restricted. Opening her eyes, she looked down to see Ruby asleep, virtually lying on top of her, the taller girls legs curled up against her own, her head on Belle's shoulder. Belle's arms were lazily wrapped around Ruby and the memories of the previous night flooded back, a wide smile breaking onto her face. She settled down again to doze for a while, not wanting to wake the sleeping werewolf, nor wanting this moment to end. Shifting ever so slightly to ease her stiff arm, she heard Ruby growl a little. It wasn't like a dog growling at an aggressor, more of a puppy-ish noise. She chuckled fondly and gently stroked Ruby's hair, drifting in and out of consciousness.

Ruby awoke, feeling strangely content for once, the wolf inside her calm for once, which was especially unusual during wolfstime. She shifted in her half-asleep state and felt something beneath her. Opening her sleepy eyes, she saw Belle beneath her. Ruby was more than a little surprised – pleasantly so – to see her arm draped across Belle's stomach. Her head rested against Belle's shoulder, nuzzling her neck. With a groan she could barely contain, she remembered she had to go and open the diner, or else Granny would bite her head off. In her family, that was a real possibility, she thought with a quiet chuckle. Sitting up slowly, she made sure to untangle herself with care so Belle wouldn't wake. The young woman looked so peaceful in her slumber she could not bear to wake her. Immediately regretting the loss of closeness with Belle, she couldn't help herself as she leaned forwards and placed the gentlest of kisses on Belle's forehead, before getting up and grabbing the throw from the other chair and draping it over her friend, and then, with a final look of longing, she let herself out, closing the door silently behind her.

Belle felt Ruby move, the other woman finally awake, but she decided to let Ruby take control of the situation. It might be a little awkward for them to talk, they did spend the majority of the night wrapped in each other's arms. If Ruby desperately needed to talk about it, she would wake her. Belle lay there as Ruby sat up, the loss of contact making her long for the warmth of Ruby's body again. Just as she was about to 'wake up', she felt something ever so gentle brush her forehead, and stay there for a moment, and then Ruby stood up and crossed the room. Belle, a little surprised, began to open her eyes, but then she felt something being thrown over her and realised that Ruby was tucking her in. The show of concern, the blanket, the kiss, made Belle's heart melt, and she didn't want to ruin the moment, so she maintained her façade until Ruby was out of the room.

Ruby leant against the door as she closed it, closing her eyes and wishing with all her might that she could just turn around and go back in, to fall back into Belle's embrace and just sleep the rest of the day away. Unfortunately, she had to go and get cleaned up and change before she opened the diner. Besides, Belle was as dependable as clockwork in the mornings, as she always came in for breakfast at around eight, so she'd more than likely see her again soon. She scolded herself for being so pathetic. She knew why, but she refused to accept it. With a heavy sigh, she pushed herself off the door and exited the building.

Belle switched off the hot water from the shower and stepped out, towelling herself dry and pulling on fresh clothes. While she performed her usual morning routine, she tried her best to convince herself that her and Ruby were just friends. Friends always stay over at each other's overnight, maybe not quite as closely as they had, but they were still good friends, there was nothing more to it. She knew she was lying to herself, but she had to keep up her denial to save her from the pain of knowing that Ruby couldn't possibly feel the same way. She had heard of her history, and there were no women that she had mentioned, nor had she shown any inclination that she might be 'into' women, to use this world's parlance. Besides, this was all silly, Belle had just broken up, or was on a break, she wasn't entirely sure which, but she had something with Rumplestiltskin, or Gold, and she couldn't allow herself to betray him, despite his manipulative tendencies. She had loved him before, she could do so again. And she would, if he wanted her to, it would just take her some time to see if she could actually make sense of the world around her. The whole situation after Hook and Gold, resulting in her getting shot and losing her memories had – unsurprisingly – thrown her more than a little, and she needed space to work herself out, even though she could now remember everything. Gold hadn't told her much about the events, she didn't know exactly how she got her memories back, but she wasn't complaining all that much. Well, the twenty eight years locked up by the Queen had led her to have less than friendly feelings towards the supposedly reformed Regina, and she had a slight aversion to confined spaces, but she was glad to have her memories of the Enchanted Forest. Now she knew she could brave. Brave enough to love a 'monster', to defeat a Yaogui, to sacrifice her freedom to save her people. So now she knew that she was brave enough to bury and ignore whatever possible feelings she would have for Ruby. For both their sakes.

Ruby balanced a tray on well-practised hands, weaving her way through the bustling diner, dropping off drinks for Snow and Charming, who sat in a booth. Squeezing past a slightly intoxicated Leroy who was just leaving the table, she placed their drinks on the table, barely having enough time to greet them before hearing Granny shout on her to get back to work. Rolling her eyes, and smiling at Snow's laughter at her action, she heard the bell on the door jangle as another customer entered. Sighing heavily, she turned to see who it was. She forced a smile as she wasn't sure if she could handle another customer on top of all the others. However, when her eyes fell on the figure in the doorway, the forced smile erupted into a genuine one.

Belle left the apartment above the library and went down the stairs to the library. She strode through the stacks of books, thinking through her jobs for the day. She didn't have much to do, and her days were generally quiet. Most of her time was spent reading, or cataloguing piles of books, or cleaning. The only proper socialisation she received was when she went to the diner for breakfast. _I really should get out more_, she thought as she left the library and crossed the road to the diner. The memory of the night before made her smile. She realised with a shock how even thinking about Ruby made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. _Stop it, this can't happen, you can't let it. It's not like she feels the same. Come on, you can do it, just ignore it and try not to act like a lovesick idiot._ Stopping in her tracks, she analysed the thought again. Lovesick? Was she really lovesick? Belle shook off the thought and drove it into the very deepest depth of her mind as she opened the door of the diner and entered. As soon as she entered, her eyes fell unbidden to Ruby's form next to Snow and Charming's table. Belle could barely tear her eyes away as Ruby began to turn, and quickly fumbled with her jacket and hung it up, before turning back. She caught Ruby smiling warmly at her across the diner, her hazel eyes shining, before the taller woman gathered herself and continued with her work, disappearing into the kitchen. Belle took a breath and sat down in an empty booth, took out her book and began to read.

When the door opened, Snow looked up to see Belle in the doorway. Glancing back at Ruby, she saw the pair were transfixed with each other for a few seconds. Snow knew, as she had when she saw Red and Peter together in the Enchanted Forest, that Ruby definitely had some form of feelings for the librarian. Snow knew Ruby; she could read her friend easily. And, from her brief observation, she found that Belle possibly reciprocated these feelings. Snow smiled knowingly as she looked back to Charming. She would definitely be talking to Ruby about this later, but for now, she'd watch their interactions to see just how far this went.

Ruby took a deep breath, leaning against the wall of the kitchen for a moment as she tried to calm her beating heart and control her breathing. _Why am I reacting like this?_ She asked herself. She was getting in a state over Belle just walking into the diner and smiling at her? What on earth was happening to her?

"Ruby! What's wrong?" asked Granny from across the room, only half paying attention as she cooked.

"Huh?" It took Ruby a moment to notice Granny had spoken. "I'm alright, just a little tired."

"That's what you get for staying out all night!" came Granny's reply, quick as a flash. Ruby rolled her eyes. "Where were you anyway?"

"I was at Belle's."

"You two have gotten pretty close recently."

Ruby bristled at the comment, more than she should have, and felt a need to defend herself.

"We're friends, she didn't have anyone other than Gold, I was making sure she was okay."

"Somebody's defensive this morning," smirked Granny. Ruby rolled her eyes again and slid out of the kitchen, walking around the counter to Belle's table. Out of the corner of her eye, she felt Snow watching her.

"Morning," she greeted as Belle looked up from her book.

"Good morning," she replied, flashing that smile that Ruby loved so dearly. There was a small moment of silence, as Ruby and Belle just looked at each other for a moment, before Ruby collected herself.

"Listen, I'm sorry, I crashed at your place last night, I never usually-"

"Oh no, it's fine. I enjoy the company," Belle replied, her eyes shining with her smile, gently tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

"And I'm sorry the wolf fell asleep on you."

"Again, it's alright, I was pretty cold." Belle shifted in her seat a little.

"RUBY!" yelled Granny from the kitchen, startling the taller woman. Belle chuckled lightly as Ruby hurried to her feet, apologising profusely to the librarian and asking if she wanted anything.

"Just a tea, please."

"Coming up," replied Ruby. On her way across the diner, she walked past the Charming's table, and saw Snow's eyes flitting from Belle to Ruby, a knowing look on her face. Ruby noted this and would follow up later with Snow, to see exactly why the woman kept analysing them.

Later that night, Belle wandered her library, looking for something interesting to read. She needed something to take her mind busy. Checking the time on the clock above the door, she discovered it was half past nine already. She had had a rather busy day, or rather, busier than usual; Mary Margaret's class had been doing a project and came in for research. Belle had enjoyed helping out the students, and was glad to use her knowledge to help them. After they were all settled and reading, Belle joined Mary Margaret, who was sitting in the office where Belle had left her, sipping a cup of coffee. Belle sat opposite her across the desk and poured a cup of tea for herself.

"The library is really brilliant," commented Mary Margaret, impressed with the content from her little explore with the students.

"Thank you, you're students seem to really appreciate it."

"Oh, most of them love books, we read a story every day."

"Good." There was a pause as both women took a sip of their drink simultaneously.

"Belle, can I ask you a question?" asked Mary Margaret.

"Sure, go ahead," replied Belle, a little unsure of where this was going.

"You and Gold… are you two still…?" she let the question tail off.

"Oh, no, we're… I don't really know. But things aren't like they were, he refuses to try and change, even though I know he can. I don't know if I can be with someone who hurts other people for their own good," Belle explained, looking down into her tea. Mary Margaret decided to take a bit of a shot in the dark.

"Is there someone else?" she asked quietly, watching Belle's face carefully for any reaction. She saw Belle bite her lip, suppressing a small grin, and then looked up to Mary Margaret.

"Possibly, I'm not really sure. I haven't had much experience with this whole…" she paused, looking for the right word. "…Dating thing."

"Do you think they like you back?" asked Mary Margaret calmly, though inside she was yelling victoriously that she was right.

"Again, I don't know. I doubt it. We're… just friends," replied Belle, a hint of disappointment and sadness in her voice.

"Why not just ask them?"

"What if they don't feel the same? I don't want to ruin anything."

"What if they do?"

"Why would they like me? I'm hardly their type, from what I've heard."

"Belle, you're smart, beautiful and kind, of course they'll like you. They like you enough to be friends."

"True…"

Belle and Mary Margaret had spent the rest of the afternoon discussing Belle's problem, without mentioning who it was, but now as Belle thought over it, she had a feeling that the teacher knew exactly whom she had been talking about.

Belle snapped back to the present, and, shaking her head slightly, continued her search for a book., and a rest from the relentless thoughts that deluged her, most of them about Ruby. Constant thoughts about where the taller woman was, whether it was wolfstime yet, if she spent her time with anyone else. The last one concerned her most. What if these strange feelings weren't reciprocated? She knew it wasn't her place, but she wanted to be special to Ruby. She sighed, knowing it would probably never happen. Reaching up, she stood on tip toe to grasp a book from a high shelf. Suddenly, she heard a persistent scratching sound at the door. Momentarily startled, the librarian crossed the room, weaving between the stacks, and opened the door slowly and carefully. The next thing she knew, she had been thrown backwards and a large, heavy grey creature, absolutely covered in fresh snow, was pinning her to the floor, licking her face.

"Ruby!" she exclaimed, realising the culprit. A cold draft blew in from the door and Belle hastened to her feet, playfully shoving the wolf off of her as she got up to close it. Turning back, she saw Ruby sitting, tail wagging furiously and tongue hanging out. Belle noticed something on the floor. Upon closer inspection, it was mud. Looking down at her front, she discovered her dress was covered in water, from melted snow, and mud.

"Look what you've done!" Belle said, in a mock harsh tone. Ruby's puppy-like face immediately fell, ears drooping and staring at the floor. Chuckling, Belle knelt in front of Ruby and stroked her head affectionately. "I'm kidding. Come on, if you're staying, we better get you cleaned up." With that, Belle got to her feet and walked to the stairway that led to her apartment. Ruby followed her halfway up the stairs, and then scrambled back down and through the stacks again. Belle waited, watching the door, bemused, until Ruby came bounding back through and up the steps, carrying Belle's book in her jaws. Belle's heart melted at the act of kindness, and shook her head, unable to stop grinning. Ruby looked proud of herself as she followed Belle into the apartment.

"Come on, into the bath," ordered Belle, pointing to the door off the hall. Ruby obediently dropped the book onto the coffee table in the living room and carefully pawed her way to the bathroom, trying not to get the carpet muddy. Belle couldn't help chuckling at her antics, watching this supposedly fearsome beast tiptoeing across the carpet. After fetching some towels, Belle entered the bathroom and turned on the light, to see Ruby sitting in the bath, attempting to turn the taps on with her nose. At Belle's laugh, Ruby looked at her with a sheepish grin as Belle turned on the taps and filled the bath. Ruby sat as still as she could, but, being a restless individual, and an even more fidgety wolf, this wouldn't be as easy as Belle had thought. But, she persevered. After rinsing off some of the dirt, Belle lathered soap onto her fur. Ruby, unfortunately, decided to shake herself off before Belle had finished, and subsequently covered Belle in bubbles.

"Bad Ruby!" she said, flicking the wolf on the nose. Ruby scrunched her face up and pawed at Belle's head, as if trying to pat her condescendingly. Belle continued with her work, cleaning off the mud, lathering on soap and then rinsing it off. It took a good ten minutes, with a lot of semi-stern warnings to Ruby to stop shaking her fur, eating the bubbles or the soap, and licking Belle in the face. When she was done, she ordered Ruby to step out of the bath and onto the mat.

"…And DO NOT SHAKE YOUR FUR. Do you hear me?" she asked, throwing a towel at Ruby. It hit her in the face, covering her snout all the way to her neck; twin peaks of her ears making it stick up. When Belle lifted the towel, Ruby's face was plastered with the most indignant look a canine could achieve. Belle dried her off, and then let her loose in the apartment. While Ruby was bounding around the living room, Belle cleaned up the bathroom and put the towels into the wash, before joining Ruby, who was sniffing around the kitchen. Sighing happily, she watched from the door as the girl she was pretty sure she was in love with tried and failed to open the fridge on numerous occasions.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: I'd just like to thank all the wonderful people who read this, and all those who have left such lovely comments about it. As always, all the mistakes are mine, I apologise for them, and I hope you enjoy reading the rest of it. And if anyone has any suggestions for other fics, please leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you. Thank you again :)

* * *

Belle sat down at the table, finally realising how hungry she'd been. Ruby, whose fur was still damp, was forbidden to jump on any furniture until she was dry, so now the wolf was trailing after Belle in the kitchen as the librarian cooked, begging not-too-subtly for scraps. Belle resisted at first, but after Ruby had sat with her ears drooped and a sad expression on her wolfy face, Belle couldn't help herself. She tossed Ruby little bits of food and Ruby ate them up happily. As Belle tucked into her meal, she watched in amusement as Ruby attempted to sit on the chair opposite her. After slipping off three times, Ruby settled down on top of Belle's bare feet.

"You make a fantastic hot water bottle," she commented. The remark was met with a grunt of approval from under the table.

Later that night, Belle sat watching the television on her couch, Ruby curled up on the floor in front of her. Belle felt herself dozing off after a while, and checked the time. It was nearly midnight. Yawning, Belle got to her feet, careful not to step on Ruby's fur, and checked to see if the wolf was still awake. Ruby's ears twitched as Belle moved, and raised her head tiredly.

"I'm heading to bed, do you want me to let you out?" she asked, secretly not wanting Ruby to leave, but knowing she probably didn't want to stay. At Ruby's head tilt that Belle had learned to associate with confusion, Belle crossed the room and opened the door to let her out. Ruby glanced from the door to Belle and back again, and slowly got to her feet, tail sagging and ears drooping. As the wolf pawed closer, Ruby rubbed her head against Belle's hand.

"You don't have to go, I was just offering-"

Belle was cut off as Ruby jumped up on her and licked her face.

"Ruby! What have I told you?" she laughed. Ruby dropped onto all fours with a strange look, and Belle could imagine Ruby's face in her You-love-it-don't-pretend-you-don't expression. Belle sighed happily as she locked the door and walked to her bedroom, closing the door as she put on her pyjamas.

The small part of Ruby that was left unaffected by the wolf was internally scolding herself for being such a clingy puppy. But she was where she wanted to be, she didn't want to be outside when she could be here. Hearing Belle getting changed in the bedroom through the door, she padded into the living room to wait. Belle seemed to be enjoying their time together. When she had opened the door, she thought Belle wanted her to go, and, if it made the librarian happy, of course she would have, but given the choice to stay, well, her reaction said it all really. Ruby cringed inwardly as she remembered jumping up on Belle. She was such a PUPPY. Glancing around the room, she noticed something on the table.

Belle finished changing and brushed her teeth, before going back to the living room to find Ruby, and hoped fervently that the wolf hadn't gotten herself in trouble in the five minutes Belle had left her alone. Human Ruby was bad enough, massive puppy Ruby was even worse. However, when she walked through the door, she saw Ruby sitting waiting with something in her mouth. Hearing Belle enter, Ruby turned and padded over to her, the book Belle had dropped downstairs in her jaws.

"Thank you," she said, giving Ruby a stroke on the head. Belle wandered back to her room, Ruby in tow, and crawled onto her bed, snuggling under the covers and propping herself up on the pillows, watching an uneasy Ruby in the doorway. She wondered why Ruby always seemed so unsure of herself at times. She didn't even dare believe it was for the exact same reason that Belle was nervous, but she had trouble thinking up other reasons. She decided to push the thought to the back of her head for now. Patting the bed gently, she gestured for Ruby to jump up.

"If you want to," she mumbled. Ruby slowly scrambled up, slipping slightly as the covers moved. Belle couldn't help but chuckle again, a sound Ruby dearly loved to hear. Ruby gave her an exasperated look before licking her cheek and settling down, her head lying on Belle's stomach. Belle's hand automatically went to Ruby's head, stroking the fur, and burying her fingers in it. Together, they drifted off, completely at ease in each other's company.

A terrific crash woke the sleeping wolf and beauty, both of them sitting up straight. Ruby jumped up onto all fours, sniffing the air and straining her ears as Belle hurried to the window, wrenching the curtains apart to view the street below. Amidst the beautiful, snow covered landscape, a battle ensued. A loud roar sounded, followed by another, and another, and then a loud crash. Belle and Ruby glanced at each other before they both scrambled across the bed and into the living room. Belle hurriedly pulled on a pair of boots and a long black coat as Ruby scratched at the door. Flinging open the door, the pair hurtled down the stairs together and out of the library.

The street was chaos, the inhabitants armed with a variety of weapons, swords, spears, fire, arrows, baseball bats and other assorted items. Belle had had the sense to grab the long butcher knife from the kitchen before heading out. Together, they watched for a moment as the Charming family, bar Henry, took on a massive creature. Both women recognised it as an ogre. They glanced at each other fearfully, but their attention quickly returned to the battle as the ogre batted Snow and David aside in one motion, and began towards the struggling Emma, who was attempting to get to her feet in the snow. Belle gasped as the ogre raised its massive fist above Emma, but a flash of purple smoke wrapped around the ogre's wrist and wrenched it away. The ogre backed off, seeming to be burned. Belle followed the line of smoke to see Regina standing with her somehow still immaculate suit, a look of deep concern on her face as she hurried forwards and helped Emma to her feet. Another roar brought Belle back to her senses, as she saw Leroy being beaten by another ogre. She had tried to count the number of the creatures, but there were too many. Belle ran towards Leroy, Ruby bounding in front of her. Ruby leapt at the ogre, burying her teeth into the creature's arm. It roared, and flung her aside, but she simply got back up and attacked again. Belle reached Leroy, while Ruby was luring the creature away, and discovered gratefully that he was still alive.

"Leroy! You'll be okay, just take deep breaths, okay?" she said, assessing him. He had numerous cuts on his face, but nothing life threatening. A yelp of pain made Belle's blood run cold, as she whipped around to see Ruby being pinned down by the ogre. Anger rose in Belle's heart, and she sprinted the short distance to the pair. The ogre's face was close to Ruby, smelling her. It twitched as it heard Belle approaching, but before it had time to do more than turn, Belle had thrust the knife into its eye. It screamed loudly, releasing Ruby and stumbling around for a moment, before collapsing into the snow, dead. Ruby gave Belle a confused look.

"You have to stab it in the eye," said Belle, a little breathlessly.

"HENRY!" The pair heard an agonised scream come from both Regina, who was standing supporting Emma, whose left side was drenched in blood. Snow, on the other side of the road, was dragging David's body under the cover of Granny's diner. Granny herself was standing by the upstairs window, firing arrows with tremendous accuracy. However, Belle and Ruby looked in horror as an ogre lurched towards Henry, casually running over a car on its way. Henry stumbled and fell, and before anyone could react, the ogre was upon him. However, just before the creature could touch him, none other than Mr Gold appeared, raising a hand. From his left hand, a stream of purple smoke erupted and knocked the ogre backwards off its feet. Next, he grabbed Henry and made him disappear in a puff of smoke. Belle ran forwards, unable to help herself. She didn't condone what he had done in the past, but saving Henry, for whatever reason, was a good thing. He brushed off his suit and turned back to the ogre, just in time to be whacked in the face by its massive fist. He landed a few feet from Belle, sliding to a halt at her feet in the snow. Belle was about to check if he was alright, but the ogre kept coming. Instead of running, she remembered everything she had read, and ran diagonally to the left of it, it's weaker side, and slashed at it with the knife. It roared in pain, but she kept running, knowing that if she stopped, she'd be dead. Changing direction again, she managed to dodge one blow, but was clipped by the next. She stumbled into the snow, landing flat on her face before twisting onto her back, breathing heavily, trying to keep as quiet as possible, but she was sure the ogre could hear her beating heart. The ogre homed in on her, roaring in her face. Belle lunged with the knife, but it sank deep into its cheek. It reared back, taking the knife with it. Belle cursed and tried to scramble backwards, but the ogre caught her foot, crushing it under its weight. She cried out in pain and the creature lunged forwards, ugly teeth bared.

Ruby saw Belle running to aid Gold, and knew Belle would take care of herself, so she ran to Snow, helping her move David.

"Ruby! Thank God!" Snow exclaimed as she set David down in the diner through the smashed window. She caught Ruby sniffing at his body. "He's alright, he's just a bit concussed. I don't' know what happened, there was a flash of purple in the distance and then these ogres just came into town and began wrecking the place."

Ruby nodded, glancing out of the broken window again. Her eyes roved the battlefield. There were many casualties, but no-one seemed to have died. The ogres numbers were significantly smaller than they were a few minutes ago. Regina was tending to Emma behind an overturned car. Leroy was being looked after by one of the nuns. The Blue Fairy was vaporising an ogre. Rumplestiltskin was… being looked after by Belle… who was about to be eaten by an ogre! Ruby felt her body speed up, moving faster than she ever had before as she sprinted through the window, across the snow covered ground, dodging other fighters and debris, until she leapt in front of Belle, barrelling into the ogre and knocking it to the side. She felt pain explode on her left side as she rolled to a halt in the snow. She heard Belle call her name faintly as the world went black.

Belle got to her feet and, upon seeing Ruby's limp form on the ground not too far away from her, felt adrenalin course through her veins, fists clenching in anger. The ogre was stunned, lying on its side. Belle, not really thinking about what she was doing, approached it, bold as brass, and opened one of its eyes. Without a second thought, she drove her fist into its massive eye. The ogre moaned, and she punched it again. And again, until it stopped moaning. She then hurried to Ruby, collapsing to her knees next to the wolf.

"Ruby?" she called, trying to keep the worry out of her voice. She gently placed a hand on the wolf's head, which lolled limply as she tried to wake her up.

"Ruby," she whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek. The sky was lighter, she ignored the cold seeping through her black leggings. Looking up, she saw the first rays of sunlight pouring over the town. Looking back down, Belle saw the wolf shrink, transforming into Ruby. More tears slipped down Belle's face as she saw Ruby, her beautiful face coated in blood and her clothes stained. Belle knew she couldn't look much better herself. Gathering herself, she got to her feet and, as gently as she could, she dragged the barely conscious Ruby to her feet, and supported most of her weight as she dragged her across the snow.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note: Just wanting to say thank you again for all the lovely followers and comments and basically everyone who reads this. I am now a beta, so if anyone has anything they want read over, I'm here to help. Once again, all mistakes are mine, and reviews are always welcomed.

* * *

The next few hours were the most torturous hours Belle had ever encountered. She had barely registered that she had dragged Ruby's limp body to the diner, not noticing the cut on her arm, nor the pain in her foot when he ogre crushed her. No, that came later. Belle felt hollow, as if she weren't really there, as Snow helped her carry Ruby. She didn't notice that her clothes were drenched in Ruby's blood until after all that, after David had driven them, along with Snow, Emma and Regina, to the hospital. After she had yelled at Doctor Whale when he was still half drunk, as always. It was only when the staff had taken Ruby away, and David had left to break up a dispute between Regina and Snow, that it all hit Belle, and she broke, sinking into a chair and wept, by herself, in the waiting room. She had no clue how much time had passed, and tears were still pouring out of her eyes when she felt a comforting arm wrap around her. She heard Snow whisper words of comfort in her ear as she held her close, telling her it would be alright. Belle knew then that she had been right, that the teacher had indeed known how she felt during their talk. For maybe an hour had passed, before a doctor – not Whale, Belle was happy to know – entered the room. Immediately, Belle was on her feet.

"Is she okay-?" she asked, but the doctor held up a hand to stop her.

"Before I continue, I must tell you that nothing at this moment is definite. Miss Lucas has lost a lot of blood, she has several fractures in her ribs, potentially some breakage. We've stabilised her for the moment. I can let you in to see her now but I highly doubt she'll be awake any time soon." The doctor paused, taking in Belle's ragged appearance. "Were you with her? Are you family?"

"Yes, I was with her, but I'm not family. I'm just her friend," she said, grateful that Snow had joined her and taken her arm, steadying her. Belle realised she hadn't eaten for hours, she was sleep deprived and stressed. Not a healthy combination.

"She doesn't have a lot of family, I'll go phone her Granny," said Snow to the doctor. The doctor nodded and left. Snow turned to Belle. "Do you want to go see her?" she asked, in her sweet voice. Belle noticed that Snow was just as ragged as she was.

"Uhm, yes," she said after taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry about… that, how's Emma?" she asked.

"Emma's fine, her leg had a hairline fracture but she'll be okay. I'm concerned though, Regina won't leave her side, I'm worried to leave the pair in the room by themselves. It's very odd, the way they look at each other sometimes…" Snow tailed off thoughtfully. Belle just nodded, too exhausted to respond with words. Snow gave her a quick hug. "Will you be okay by yourself, or do you want me to come with you?"

"I'm fine, thank you, Snow. Really, thank you."

"It's no problem. I'll be through in a minute, okay? I'm just going to phone Granny and tell her how Ruby is, she's busy trying to sort out everyone in the town, then I'll go check on Emma to make sure Regina hasn't… poisoned her or something." Belle nodded again and flashed her a weak smile, before watching Snow leave. Belle walked slowly out of the waiting room, down the corridor to the room the doctor was standing in front of. He gave her a small smile as he opened the door for her, closing it quietly behind her.

Belle stood frozen by the door, her eyes unable to take in anything other than the pale form on the bed, with a large red gash on the side of her head. Taking a shaky step forwards, Belle approached the bed. Even asleep, though Belle could be imagining it, she looked like she was in pain. She looked completely different from the Ruby she had woken up to the day before. Reaching out a cold hand, she touched Ruby's cheek. The usually burning hot skin was cooler, not quite cold, but not warm. A fresh tear ran down her face as she closed her eyes, trying not to fall apart again. Pulling herself together, Belle drew up a chair and sat next to Ruby's bed, her hand clasped over Ruby's motionless one.

Belle woke with a start, her eyes immediately attacked by the sunlight streaming through the window. Rubbing her eyes, she looked around or the source of the disturbance. Her eyes fell on Snow in the doorway. The woman was wincing, noticing she had startle Belle.

"Sorry," she said quietly.

"It's fine," replied Belle.

"I came to see how you are; you've been in here for hours."

"I fell asleep, it's… been a long day," she said, biting her lip as she took a moment to think over her words. Snow nodded as she joined the librarian at their friend's side. There was a minute of a not uncomfortable silence, before Snow broke it.

"It's her, isn't it?" she asked quietly. Belle didn't have the energy to deny it when the woman clearly knew the truth. Instead, she just nodded. Belle noticed out of the corner of her eye that Snow was grinning.

"What?" Belle enquired. Snow didn't take her eyes off of Ruby as she spoke.

"She feels the same way, you know."

Belle was dumbstruck. She just gazed at Snow, who continued gazing affectionately at her friend.

"How- How do you know that?" Belle asked urgently.

"It's obvious," replied Snow in her sometimes unnervingly calm and sweet voice.

"Care to explain?" Belle realised her enquiry was rather blunt, and immediately apologised. Snow nodded understandingly.

"She could barely take her eyes off you throughout the whole battle. Every time she stopped fighting, she was looking for you. Even when she's just in the diner, she changes whenever you come in. I've seen it. She threw herself in danger* for you."

"She would have done that for anyone else," Belle reasoned, not wanting to believe it, not wanting to get her hopes up.

"True, but she doesn't look at anyone else the way she does with you. Believe me," said Snow, turning to finally face Belle, and placing a hand on her shoulder. "I know her, and she loves you."

Ruby awoke; her eyes snapping open and she sat bolt upright, her most recent memories replaying themselves in her head. Pain flared immediately all the way down the left side of her torso. She felt dizzy, but she felt a hand on her right shoulder, another on her waist, steadying her.

"Calm down, Ruby, come one, lie back down," came a voice, a sweet, accented, beautiful voice that instantly calmed Ruby and she submitted to the speaker, allowing herself lie down on a bed that was too small and not red enough to be hers. Blinking rapidly, her vision cleared and she gazed around, taking in her surroundings. First, the room was very white and clean. Ruby could smell the clinical scent of medicine. The room was small, and beside her was a consistent beeping noise. On her right side, she saw the wonderful librarian sitting in a chair next to her, her left arm bandaged and a few cuts on her face, but looked altogether alright. Belle smiled at her, her bright blue eyes sparkling with tears. Ruby noticed Belle looked exhausted, her beautiful face clouded by fatigue.

"Belle? Where am I?" Her dream of the events that had just happened came rushing back to her. "Is everyone alright?" Ruby felt her side ache as she tried to move.

"You're in hospital. Doctor Whale said you had a few fractured ribs and needed seven stitches on the side of your head." Ruby picked up a hint of annoyance in her voice when she mentioned the Doctor's name. After a pause, Belle continued. "The ogres have been dealt with. Apparently some kind of riff opened from the Enchanted Forest and… well, I don't know the full thing. Emma's leg's on the mend, Gold has a concussion but he'll be okay. He sent Henry to Regina's vault, by the time he got out, the battle was over. Leroy has a broken arm, but he's okay. It was lucky there weren't any deaths."

"So everyone's okay?" she asked.

"Yes," chuckled Belle. "They're all fine. Recovering, but fine."

Ruby sat up straighter against the pillows, looking to Belle. "How are you?"

"Me? I'm fine. Bit of an injured arm, and my foot needed a bit of attention, but other than that, Im perfectly fine."

"Have you slept much?"

"I dozed in and out for a while. Chairs are not the comfiest."

"You stayed with me the whole time?"

"Yes," Belle replied, somewhat sheepishly. Ruby smiled and reached out, taking Belle's hand, and glancing up, receiving a smile in return.


	5. Chapter 5

Good day to you, lovely readers. I apologise for the long delay, studying for exams eats up a lot of time. But here it is, as usual, any comments or ideas are welcomed, and I'd love to hear from you. Virtual cookies and hugs to all , and all the mistakes are mine, do forgive :) Many thanks to everyone who left a comment before, they really do make my day 3

* * *

Belle helped Ruby through the door of her room at Granny's, Belle struggling under the weight of the wolf-girl. Since there were usually three nights of wolfstime, they had decided it would be best to get Ruby out of the hospital. She would heal faster as a wolf, but she didn't want to cause any trouble. Granny and Belle would keep an eye on her throughout the night, to make sure she was okay. Ruby was still doped up on painkillers from the hospital, and Belle had driven her home. Ruby's slightly slurred ramblings amused Belle throughout the journey. But Ruby was still weak, her ribs making it hard to walk, so she had to use Belle to support her.

"Thank you, by the way. I really don't deserve a friend like you," said Ruby as Belle awkwardly closed the door and guided Ruby over to the couch.

"Oh please, it's fine," replied Belle. She glanced at the clock on the wall and saw it was nearly five in the afternoon. "Uhm, should I leave you to it for a while?"

"Oh, if you have somewhere to be, don't let me stop you, don't worry about me."

"I don't have anywhere to be, I just don't want to intrude…"

"No, you're not intruding."

"Alright then," said Belle. There was a slightly awkward silence, before Ruby flicked on the TV and sat as comfortably as she could on the couch. Belle smiled as she got up and went to the bedroom.

"What're you doing?" asked Ruby, eyeing her retreating figure. Belle returned with a pillow, that she placed behind Ruby's back carefully.

"See?" Ruby smiled. "I don't deserve you."

"I'm sure that's not true," replied Belle.

The pair settled down to watch the program, Belle sitting on one end of the sofa, Ruby on the other. Shortly after the drama had finished, after Belle and Ruby had argued playfully about the characters, Ruby shifted, lying on her back and stretching her long legs out. Belle, who sat with her legs curled underneath her, automatically moved to accommodate the waitress and settled down comfortably with her arms resting on Ruby's legs. It seemed completely natural to them. Time rolled by, and the pair either sat in comfortable silence, watching random programs, or discussed and debated the plots. Ruby, still woozy from the painkillers, felt herself drift off to sleep after a while.

Belle noticed Ruby slipping in and out of consciousness.

"Tired?" she asked fondly, stroking Ruby's leg gently. Ruby nodded in reply, nuzzling closer into the cushion on the arm of the chair, curling her legs up over Belle's.

"Come here, that doesn't look comfy," said Belle, the smile reserved exclusively for Ruby plastered across her face. Ruby tiredly dragged herself up and switched her position, so the upper half of her body was resting against Belle while her legs were curled up on the sofa cushions.

"You're right, this is comfier," she sighed, her head on Belle's stomach as the librarian shifted down so she was basically lying half underneath Ruby.

"Here we are again," she said quietly, remembering the first night they had fallen asleep with each other on the couch.

"Sorry about that," replied Ruby sleepily, her eyes shut. "I'm such a puppy sometimes."

"Hmmm," thought Belle. "Most of the time, I'd say," she grinned. Ruby responded by laughing and playfully hitting Belle on the leg.

"Its fine, you can sleep on me whenever you like," said the librarian, before she had time to think it through. She bit her lip as she was convinced she felt Ruby freeze for a moment.

"I may take you up on that," the wolf-girl replied, after a moment's pause.

Belle smiled, glad the tremendously awkward moment had been diffused, and snuggled further into the cushion, wrapping her arms around Ruby. It was a natural thing and Ruby didn't seem to mind, snuggling even closer into Belle, their body's fitting perfectly together. Belle eventually lost interest in the program, and just closed her eyes, holding the tender girl in her arms.

Belle opened her eyes when she felt something change. She had been dozing a little but was still relatively aware, and she sensed it immediately when Ruby started to move. Looking down at the girl in her arms, she saw her changing quickly from a woman into a wolf. It only took a few seconds, but Ruby lay unmoving in Belle's arms. Slightly concerned, Belle nudged the wolf gently. Still no response.

"Ruby," she said softly into Ruby's ear. Still nothing.

"Ruby." Nothing. "Ruby!" she said loudly. Ruby jumped up in fright, forgetting where she was, and also forgetting that she was still injured. So when she attempted to jump over the side of the sofa, she forgot about her damaged ribs and consequently tumbled to the floor, landing in the most awkward position possible. Belle, for her part, was also on the floor, but she was rolling around laughing, before crawling around the sofa to see Ruby gingerly trying to move. Belle knew she wasn't in too much pain, and wasn't seriously injured, from the way her ears drooped slightly from embarrassment rather than pain.

"Nice one, Moon Moon," she sniggered, earning an evil glare from Ruby, made even more intimidating in her wolf form, but after the events of the past minute, Belle could never be scared of Ruby. It was just too funny. She was severely tempted to take a picture and add it to the Moon Moon tag she had happened upon on one of her bored internet trawls. At Belle's continued laughter, Ruby stalked over to her and playfully shoved her with a paw as she passed. Belle rebutted with a gentle smack over the head. This play fighting continued for a minute, steadily escalating…

A knock at the door made both woman and wolf freeze, as Granny opened the door, accompanied by Mary Margaret. Both newcomers took a moment to absorb the scene that met them. Cushions were strewn across the room, the rug was curled up at the corner, and in the centre of the room lay the two inhabitants, Belle pinned beneath Ruby, one arm wrapped around Ruby's neck, attempting to throw her to the ground, the other gripping Ruby's right paw, her body twisted a little as she attempted to throw Ruby off. Ruby was above Belle, one paw pinning her shoulder, the other on her hair, her back paws balancing on Belle's stomach and thighs. Both play-fighters were now transfixed on the door, their eyes wide with shock. There was an awkward, prolonged silence when no-one spoke, the only movement was Belle biting her bottom lip. Finally, Granny broke it, a wide grin spreading across her face.

"Glad to see you've recovered enough to wrestle Belle," she smirked. Ruby then snapped back to her senses and stepped off of Belle, who promptly let go of her neck and paw. Mary Margaret wore a similar, knowing smirk that matched the one plastered on Granny's face, Belle noted. But they couldn't know, she was just being paranoid…

"Hey, Mary Margaret, what brings you here?" asked Belle as she hastily got to her feet, a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks as Ruby sat beside her, the wolf's head the same height as Belle's elbow, shifting from paw to paw somewhat uncomfortably.

"I just thought I'd pop by to see how Ruby was doing. I thought you might have been here alone, since you probably weren't going to go out…"

Ruby's ears perked up and she raised her head as Mary Margaret addressed her, and pawed over to her old friend, allowing Snow to stroke her head. Belle smiled and began to tidy up the room, giving the two some space. Granny left, the amused smirk never leaving her face for a moment.

Belle worked her way around the room, zoning out Mary Margaret's talking and Ruby's canine responses. It's not that she didn't like Mary Margaret, Belle thought she was the loveliest person she had ever met, but after what she had discussed with her, and now she suspected more than a little that she was on to her, Belle was uneasy around her. She knew the teacher probably wouldn't say anything though.

Belle finished up her tidying, feeling terribly guilty at the twinge of irritation, the sliver of annoyance that Mary Margaret invoked with her abrupt arrival. But she understood Snow's need to spend time with her friend. Belle, on her hands and knees behind the couch, reached out to pick up the book that had fallen during their wrestle. However, she discovered that Ruby had beaten her to it, taking it gently in her teeth. Belle looked up into Ruby's eyes, brushing a lock of long, curly hair from her face. The pools of yellow conveyed the feeling from Ruby's pleading look, almost as if the wolf knew that the next words from Belle's mouth would be "I think I'm going to head home." Belle looked back apologetically at the wolf for a moment, before getting to her feet and walking over to Mary Margaret.

"I think I might head home," she said to the teacher, pulling on her boots and shrugging on her coat. When she looked back up at Mary Margaret, she found the woman looking troubled. Belle hastened to explain. "I'm exhausted after the hospital and everything, I'm just going for some rest." After this, she looked to Ruby one last time as she opened the door. Ruby padded over to her and whined a little, rubbing her head against Belle's stomach. Belle chuckled at the wolf.

"Ruby, I'll see you tomorrow, I promise," she said, stroking Ruby's soft, warm fur and looking into the pained yellow eyes. There was a brief moment while they got lost in each other's eyes, the shining yellow meeting purest aquamarine, neither wanting to pull away from the other's gaze. Mary Margaret stood a short distance away, momentarily forgotten by the other two, her knowing smile spreading across her lips. In that instant, she knew the two were destined to be together. _Now just to work out how to make them both admit it to each other_, she thought, her eyes narrowed slyly, a plan forming in her head.

Belle trudged home through the still thick snow. The destruction from the incident with the ogres has all but been cleared up, as the majority of the inhabitants who hadn't been injured had aided in the recovery; be it cleaning up, fixing and repairing damage to property, and some even helped out in the hospital, helping the fallen in battle. Belle was slightly ashamed to admit that she hadn't been a part of any of the work to return the town to normal, she had been practically glued to Ruby's side the whole time she had been unconscious, ever since she had been allowed into the room. She had only left her for a few hours at most. Then, when Ruby had been released from the hospital, Belle had stayed with her for most of the day. Belle realised with a jolt that she had spent the majority of the last three days in the girl's company. And she had never once been bored or wanted to leave. Even now, as she finally broke Ruby's gaze and leant forwards, planting a gentle kiss on Ruby's head, and then straightened up, giving Mary Margaret a small wave and a smile, before leaving, closing the door quietly behind her. She closed her eyes, resting her hand on the doorknob, fighting the urge to go back in for a few seconds, before sighing heavily and walking away.


	6. Chapter 6

Hello, again, lovely readers :) Sorry about the wait, my exams and such were keeping me busy. Once again, comments and reviews are welcomed and I hope my fic has lived up to your expectations. Also, I am a beta, so anyone needs anything, my door is always open. Any mistakes are mine and I apologise profusely for them.

* * *

Ruby whined upon hearing Belle's sigh through the wall, reaching out a paw to scratch at the door.

"Ruby…" Snow said gently, kneeling next to her and stroking her head. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ruin –" Snow was cut off by Ruby's sharp bark, but it was not aggressive. Snow looked into Ruby's eyes and saw no blame, just a little… loss. "You really like her, don't you?" Snow asked, to the air, really, more than Ruby, but Ruby held her gaze with her amber eyes, before looking away and trotting dejectedly over to the couch where she crawled up and lay down; her head on her front paws. Snow could swear Ruby's eyes looked a little watery, but she wasn't entirely sure.

"You should tell her," said Snow, walking over and sitting on the other side of the sofa. She couldn't repress the small smile, despite Ruby's obvious pining. Ruby had a chance for happiness, and Snow hadn't really approved of anyone for her best friend since Peter's… incident. But Belle seemed to be what Ruby needed. Gentle, strong, honest and she had already proven she would stick by Ruby even if everyone else was baying for her blood. Ruby raised her head and shot a look at Snow, one that the woman could easily read as "Like-it's-that-easy". Snow chuckled as Ruby laid her head back on her paws and looked longingly at nothing in particular.

"Listen to me, Ruby," said Snow, stroking her warm fur gently. "I can't think of anyone better suited to you than Belle." Ruby looked up at her, an anxious but also… hopeful look on her face. "She stuck by you before she even properly knew you. And you two got on so well from the start. She's good for you." Snow paused, letting her words sink in. She could tell Ruby was pondering her little speech. They sat in silence for a while, Snow watching the TV while Ruby's mind drifted.

When she thought about it, Ruby had to agree with Snow. She couldn't think of anyone better, anyone kinder. She knew there was something there, ever since the night she had chained Belle in the library, but she had ignored it. No, she had _refused_ to accept it on grounds that there was no chance in hell that Belle felt the same, especially with Mr Gold in the picture. At this thought, Ruby growled out loud by accident. Snow jumped, startled. But, Mr Gold didn't seem such a large part of Belle's life anymore. Belle never mentioned him, and on the extremely rare occasion they saw each other in town, they avoided eye contact and kept walking. This gave Ruby a small amount of hope. And Belle _had _punched a troll in the eye to save her. And had never left her bedside until Ruby had woken up, thought Ruby, an audible whine sounding from her throat as she performed the wolf equivalent of a head-desk, covering her head with her paws. If her thoughts could settle for a moment, she'd be able to work it out. But, this was her wolf brain, which, while heightened, meant she picked up on a lot more sensory information, so her thoughts were clouded, but it also meant she was a lot easier to distract, so she didn't dwell on her problems for very long. She could let instinct take over and go with the flow, escaping her troubles for a while before having to plunge back into the human world again. The wolf-girl felt a hand gently stroking her head and back.

"Ruby, I'm going to go and make sure Regina hasn't killed Emma, alright?" said Snow, yawning tiredly as she gave her furry friend a hug. "Or vice versa, I guess," Snow pondered. Ruby rolled her eyes. The wolf-girl could think of several things the pair could be doing while Snow wasn't there. Snow caught the look in Ruby's eyes and shook her head. Snow, Ruby knew, was having trouble accepting that her former step-mother was in love with her daughter, who had also attempted to kill her family several times. "Please think about what I've said, okay, Ruby?" Ruby nodded from the sofa as Snow let herself out, a large smile on her face.

Belle sat on a bench by the harbour, her hands stuffed into her pockets to ward off the cold morning air. She stared out over the water, shuffling her feet in her boots to keep warm. Her thick black coat kept the attacking cold at bay, and her black leggings under her blue dress were nice and toasty. Her mind drifted back to when she had encountered Ruby. She couldn't help but smile at the memory; she had been terrified for a moment, only to laugh when she found out it was Ruby. So much had happened in the last few days, and she was having trouble getting it straight in her head. Regina was looking into the cause of the attack on the town; the general mess that was left behind had been cleared up. Belle had wandered through the street and, after tearing her gaze away from the diner, where she knew Ruby would be lying asleep – as Snow was probably keeping her in to let her wounds recover – and looked around the place where only a handful of hours ago had been littered with debris and bodies. Now, the only traces of the battle that remained were the few black scorch marks and red stains in the snow. Belle walked down the road, her eyes falling upon the large pile of snow where Ruby had saved her, and she had killed the troll. Mr Gold had dealt with the carcasses of the trolls using his magic, and Emma's leg was on the mend, thanks to the Blue Fairy's ministrations. Belle loved this time of morning, since her time as Mr Gold's maid; she was used to waking early, and did so nearly every morning. Usually, she would use this spare time to sort her books in the library or tidy her apartment, but recently, her mind had been elsewhere, so she couldn't concentrate. So she went out for another walk, hoping – albeit foolishly – that it would clear her head. So she walked, her feet absent-mindedly leading her back to the harbour. She had sat – after wiping the dusting of powdery snow from the seat, of course – on the bench and looked out over the water for a good ten minutes, simply thinking. The sun was a glimmering orb of golden light emerging far out across the sea, casting a gentle pink hue over the few clouds that lay scattered in the sky. Belle sighed heavily, her breath crystallising before her eyes, forming a cloud of mist.

"Morning," came a voice from behind her. Belle, startled, twisted and looked behind her, seeing the tall, slightly abashed looking Ruby standing behind her. The girl's face was pale and tired, devoid of make-up, as was Belle's own, and somehow, it made her even more beautiful. She was dressed in her customary shade of red, a fleece covered by a brown leather jacket and a pair of warm leggings covered by jeans. "Sorry," the wolf-girl apologised, feeling guilty for scaring Belle.

"Oh," said Belle, recognising the figure and relaxing. "Good morning, Ruby," she replied, her gloved hands falling back to her sides. They spent a moment looking at each other, Ruby's hazel eyes glinting in the sunlight, while Belle's aquamarine orbs were darkened by her silhouette. Then, they both looked away at the same time, both feeling a little guilty and embarrassed; Belle looking at the ground while Ruby gazed up at the sky, quite pleased that she could still see a few stars in the changing sky. The slightly awkward silence stretched on for a while, just the sounds of their breathing to fill it, when Ruby spoke.

"What are you doing out here at this time?" she asked, smiling as she stepped closer.

"I could ask you the same question," replied Belle cryptically, but with warmth.

"I heard a certain someone walking this morning and was curious," said Ruby, the smallest hint of concern only just tangible behind the friendly façade. Belle laughed and turned, oblivious to Ruby's heart melting at the beautiful sound. Belle leaned on the fence at the end of the pier, looking out over the water again.

"You're wolf hearing is impressive," Belle said as she leant on her elbows, clasping her hands together. "I couldn't sleep, so I came out to stretch my legs and clear my head."

"Oh," replied Ruby, slowly walking closer and leaning on the fence beside Belle. "Is there something troubling you?" She looked at Belle's profile, her blue eyes looking glassy as she looked over the water, the sun reflected back on itself through them.

_I've been thinking about you non-stop for the past few days and I think I'm in love with you._

"It's nothing, really," said Belle, internally cursing herself at the tone of her voice. It did nothing to quell Ruby's concern. "I'm fine." _I'm really not. _"It's nothing to be concerned over." _I really think I've fallen for you. _

Ruby, though oblivious to Belle's internal battle, she knew there was more going on with the girl beneath the surface. But she knew that Belle would open up to her if she wanted, so she didn't push her. However, her heart felt heavier knowing that she couldn't help the curly haired woman standing beside her.

"I am concerned," she replied warmly, nervously wrapping her arm around Belle's. "But you know you can tell me anything. I won't judge." Ruby paused for a moment.

"Thank you," said Belle graciously, finally turning to her and meeting Ruby's gaze. "But really, don't worry about me."

"I like worrying about you," smiled Ruby, cuddling closer to Belle, who leaned her head against Ruby's shoulder. They stood like that for a few minutes, watching each other's breath fog up in front of them. Both of them were thinking along the same lines, that they should really not, that this would only make it more painful, in the long run, but neither moved.

"So what else do you hear with your uncanny abilities?" inquired Belle with a grin, turning her head to look up at Ruby, who laughed.

"A lot of things that I really shouldn't," she replied, still chuckling. They did live in a hotel, after all. And just down from the bar. "I can tune it out mostly. Some things just take me by surprise."

"How did you know it was me?" she asked, intrigued. She had always wanted to know the extent of Ruby's wolf abilities, and compare it to what she already knew from her books – though she had a feeling most of those had been fabricated to a certain extent to make them more fantastical for the storytellers.

"I know what your footsteps sound like. They're pretty light and quick, a lot softer than Emma's, but not as much of a strut as Regina's, if that makes sense. So I figured it was you." Belle began to walk along the pier; Ruby – their arms still intertwined – was inclined to follow.

"Should you be out if you're injured?" asked Belle.

"I'm fine, when I'm a wolf; I heal a lot faster, so my ribs are just a little sore."

"Handy," quipped Belle.

"Immensely," smiled Ruby. They continued with idle conversation for a few minutes, filled mostly with laughter, and somehow, they managed to walk ever so slightly closer than they already were with every passing minute. Belle thoroughly enjoyed their conversation, and when they were together, but she knew that when Ruby ultimately found someone – which wouldn't be hard, she was beautiful – Belle would be heart broken. She already knew she was being more than obvious; whenever they were together in the diner or somewhere and a guy would chat up Ruby, Belle would find herself in a very foul mood to put it lightly, and went quiet for ages afterwards. She didn't mean to, but the alternative was her storming out in her mood and then Ruby would no doubt work out what was happening, and that would lead to awkward questions. At least this way, she knew she if she could bite her tongue until the guy in question left, she would warm up again after around five minutes of cold detachment and sarcastic comments. Little did she know that Ruby had become suspicious of these times, she had noticed that whenever she praised a guy on his appearance in Belle's presence, the shorter woman would suddenly grow colder, her usually cheerful mood disappearing as fast as the sun behind a cloud. The only reason she flirted so much with people was because it made her feel good, and she saw no harm in it. But, since she discovered she might have feelings for her friend, she never started the flirting, and she hadn't slept with anyone for a good while. She assumed that Belle was just a little annoyed because usually the men would interrupt their conversation, but now she suspected – or hoped – that there was another reason. Sighing audibly, Belle decided just to enjoy her time with Ruby, while she still had it. Already, she had an irrational disliking of Dr Whale, who leered shamelessly at Ruby whenever they passed. The man had wished her a good morning a few days previously, and Belle couldn't help but glare at him. She recovered quickly though, and was polite as ever, but it was forced. She wished she could just tell Ruby how she felt, but of course, she couldn't bring herself to do it. If Ruby rejected her, she didn't know how she would react. _Why would she be interested in me, anyway?_

_Pull yourself together, Ruby, she loves Gold, he's her True Love, there's no way you can beat that,_ thought Ruby as she stopped herself from pressing even closer to Belle. Swallowing her resignation to this fact, she noticed one of her bootlaces was undone. Unlooping her arm from Belle's, she looked down to see the young woman's inquisitive look.

"You go on, my lace needs tied," she smiled, kneeling in the snow to retie it. Belle smiled that beautiful smile that only seemed to occur when Ruby was in the room, and then continued at a slower pace. Ruby couldn't help glancing up to watch her retreating form. Tying the final knot, she brushed the snow off of her jeans, when an idea struck her. It was incredibly immature, her more sensible side warned, but Ruby was inclined not to listen to that side very often. She crouched again, grinning.

"Ruby!" exclaimed Belle as she whipped around, shaking her head to dislodge the snow. "So mature!" she yelled at the tall figure doubled over with laughter. She really tried to sound annoyed, but her own laughter somehow crept through. Grinning fiendishly, she gathered a much larger snowball while Ruby was busy laughing, and hurled it across the gap between them, striking Ruby in the forehead. Ruby was silenced immediately, taken by surprise. There was a tense moment, when the two glared at each other, grinning like loons, until Belle took off at a run and Ruby shook the snow from her face and gave chase. Belle only got a few metres before Ruby blurred to a halt in front of her, effectively causing Belle to crash into her, sending them both tumbling to the ground. Ruby hit the ground first, cushioning Belle's fall, but the snow made a relatively soft landing for her.

"Oh, Ruby, I'm sorry. Are you okay?" asked Belle, fighting her giggles.

"Don't worry about it, I'm fine," she replied. Her mouth suddenly went dry as she realised how close they were to each other, Belle's body pressed firm against Ruby's, a lock of curls brushing against Ruby's neck.

"You cheat, you used wolf powers!" laughed Belle, picking up a fistful of snow and shoving it in Ruby's face. Ruby growled playfully and rolled over, so that Belle was beneath her. Belle struggled to move for a few seconds, but eventually gave in. She glanced up nervously, Ruby's hazel eyes only a few inches from her own. They paused, their smiles frozen on their faces as it hit them both simultaneously of what could happen.

"Ruby…" said Belle, her voice shaking ever so slightly. Ruby's face seemed closer, Belle was unsure who had moved, or if they both had.

"Yes?" breathed Ruby, her voice tinted with uncustomary huskiness. Belle could feel Ruby's breath on her face.

"Is this…?" she began, but tailed off, words failing her. This felt completely different to what she had with Gold. She had loved him, true, but he refused to change. And here was beautiful, funny, amazing Ruby. How could she compare the two?

"Do you want me to stop?" whispered Ruby. She loved Belle, but she didn't want to do anything to make her uncomfortable. She desperately wanted to kiss those beautiful lips mere inches from her own.

"No," Belle managed to say, and raised her head a little, locking lips with Ruby, who reciprocated longingly. Belle felt the clichéd 'time slowing down', 'not caring about anything other than her lips on Ruby's' reaction. Well, maybe the second was a bit less common to everyone else, but she didn't care. Her right hand on Ruby's cheek, her left on Ruby's waist. The feeling of Ruby's gloved hand on her neck; the warmth of the woman pressing into Belle's body was intoxicating. Soon enough, too soon, it seemed, they broke apart. After a moment of just looking at each other, Ruby spoke.

"Should I not have done that?" she asked, uncharacteristically shy, even though technically, it had been Belle who started it.

"On the contrary. If anything, I want you to do it again," smiled Belle, and Ruby grinned her adorable grin, leaning down to kiss Belle again. After a moment, Belle groaned and sat up. At Ruby's questioning look, Belle stood and brushed down the back of her coat.

"Snow melts, Ruby," she said, jokingly condescending, making Ruby laugh and apologise. They linked arms and wandered back to town, never separating until Ruby offered to make Belle breakfast.


	7. Chapter 7

Hello again :) As usual, I'd just like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read this and comment, it means a lot. Also, all mistakes are mine, and all comments and ideas are welcomed.

* * *

Ruby dropped the phone. Her mind was racing but simultaneously blank. Snow was looking at her with obvious concern from across the diner counter. Ruby's face had frozen rigidly in shock, Snow desperately reaching across her plate to tug Ruby back into reality.

"It's…" started Ruby. "It's…" She kept stuttering, her eyes unfocused, staring out of the window, through the darkness and across the road to the library.

"Ruby, what is it?" asked Snow, increasingly anxious about her friend's distress.

"Belle," Ruby breathed, barely even whispered. Snow had barely heard it, but she had seen that word form on Ruby's lips too many times not to recognise it. The name seemed to be Ruby's trigger, and the poor girl suddenly burst into tears, scrambling into the kitchen without a second glance. Snow – not one to back down – jumped up and followed her friend through the door, pushing it open just after it had slammed shut. Granny whirled round, looking momentarily angry; mouth open to yell at Ruby for slamming doors, when she caught sight of her granddaughter's distraught face as the girl slipped past and headed for the back door. Hearing the door open again, she turned back to see Snow hurrying after her. They shared an identical look of confusion and concern before Snow continued her chase.

"Ruby!" yelled Snow as Ruby reached the bottom step of the porch. She froze, her shoulders visibly shaking, her long, dark hair rippling down her back. Snow approached slowly, as she would if Ruby were in her wolf form, but before she could speak, Ruby collapsed on the step, sitting with her head in her hands and sobbing. Snow was immediately at her side, wrapping her arms around her friend. They sat like that for a while, Snow's heart breaking every time Ruby shook with sobs, until the wolf-girl eventually calmed down.

"It's Belle," she repeated, her voice thick with emotion. Snow handed her a tissue from her bag which Ruby accepted gratefully. Ruby gazed up at the dark sky, willing herself not to cry again. Tears still fell down her face. "The… hospital called. She was out with Gold. She… she was shot." Snow's grip on Ruby's arm tightened gently as her voice began to crack at the end of the sentence. Taking a deep breath, she continued. "I have to go." Ruby said the latter rather more firmly, getting to her feet and walking towards the road, leaving Snow a little more than confused. Getting up, she followed her friend.

"Ruby!" she shouted after the figure walking determinedly in the direction of the hospital. "It's pitch dark!" But Ruby didn't listen. As Snow stumbled after her, she blinked and Ruby's figure blurred. All she could see was the pair of dark skinny jeans, black boots and red shirt disappear into the darkness, faster than a human should be able to move.

Ruby knew she should feel bad about just leaving Snow, but she couldn't. All she could think about was Belle. She wanted to find Gold. She wanted to find the person who shot Belle. But not until she had seen the curly haired librarian. Her sprinting ability was being tested to the limit; she had never had to run for this long before. But she kept going, the burning in her legs being completely ignored. She hadn't been happy recently. Belle had been getting close to Gold again, and though the librarian insisted that they were just friends and she just wanted to make sure he was alright; Ruby didn't trust the slippery man. Every time they met, they would exchange equally menacing glares over Belle's head. Belle, for her credit, knew this; but neglected to say anything about it, knowing that Ruby would just get upset.

Ruby stopped sprinting just outside the hospital doors, not halting for even a second as she strode inside, jaw clenched. People in the atrium seemed to part in front of her, as she would have just walked right into them and continued on her way. After obtaining Belle's room number from a slightly apprehensive nurse, she climbed the stairs and stormed down the corridor. Her stare was as cold as ice as she immediately zeroed in on Mr Gold, standing with his damn cane outside of Belle's room. As if sensing her presence, he turned to face the oncoming storm.

"Gold," she growled as she drew closer, never breaking pace.

"Miss Lucas," he replied in his smooth, calm voice. He saw Ruby's eyes shining gold and knew this was not the time to antagonise her. Ruby never stopped, just glared at Gold before throwing the door wide open, slamming it into the wall. Inside, Dr Whale whipped around, startled. The room was small, and Ruby's eyes were met by Belle's unconscious form lying on the bed, her head propped up by pillows. She looked so different to all the other times Ruby had seen her asleep; whiter, more vulnerable. Somehow smaller.

"Ruby! You can't be in here-" he started, as Ruby stalked inside and closed the door with her foot as Gold was about to enter himself, effectively closing the door in his face.

"I'll be wherever I damn well please," she growled in response, her eyes flashing yellow as she took the unconscious Belle's hand and glared across at Whale. Whale was amazed that he had managed to keep Gold out, but he knew he couldn't win against Ruby, not when she was like this. "Is she alright?" she asked, absent-mindedly rubbing her thumb in circles on the back of Belle's hand.

"She's stable," reported Whale after a moment. "She was shot –" Ruby's eyes flashed golden again as her gaze snapped up from Belle to Whale, her expression making Whale consciously hold his chart across his chest as a small means of protection. "But she's fine, she didn't lose that much blood, and the bullet went right through." The doctor paused after his hurried explanation.

"What is it?" she asked in a way that made it clear it was imperative that he answer her immediately.

"She crossed the line…" the doctor said quietly, his eyes on the floor.

"What?" she said, her mind going completely blank. She knew what it meant. She knew. She had seen Sneezy after he crossed the town line. But her mind refused to process it. She couldn't handle it.

"Miss Lucas, I think you know what that means-"

"No, she can't!" yelled Ruby, unintentionally squeezing Belle's hand tighter as more tears threatened to spill over.

"I'll… give you a moment…" Whale tailed off, taking a second to give Ruby's shaking shoulder a comforting squeeze before leaving through the door, taking a deep breath as it shut behind him, knowing Gold would be on his case next.

Ruby stood stock still, her whole body shaking. Closing her eyes tightly, she let two tears fall, one from each eye. Pulling up a chair, she sat, burrowing her head into the covers as she gripped Belle's hand tightly. She remained there for a long, long while, until she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. Startled and defensive, Ruby jumped up so fast the chair shot across the room, and she backed away several steps from the figure.

"Ruby, it's me, Snow," came the soft voice of her friend. Ruby then threw herself into Snow's arms and began to cry again. "Shhh, Ruby, it'll be okay," she said, as the woman could think of nothing better to comfort her friend. There they stood for several minutes, until they heard a loud crash. Ruby and Snow broke apart. The taller girl strode across the room in three long strides; walking around the bed and wrenching open the door. Outside, she saw Gold pressing Dr Whale up against the wall, his hand around the doctor's throat, his beloved cane pressed against his chin. Dr Whale spluttered a cry of help as Gold barely glanced at the intrusion.

"There must be something you can do," he hissed menacingly to the doctor, who could barely breathe, let alone reply.

"Let him down, Gold," said Snow, stepping up beside Ruby. Gold glared at Whale before releasing him. Snow helped the man stay on his feet as he coughed and gasped, Gold calmly flicking the hair out of his face before turning to Ruby.

"What are you doing here, Gold?" she asked, as intimidating a tone as she could muster. Her amber glowing eyes probably helped a little. Gold was visibly unperturbed.

"I came here with Belle. I wanted to make sure she was alright. I'm just as concerned about her as you are, Miss Lucas," he replied, as if commenting on the weather. Ruby clenched her fists at the mention of Belle's name.

"What happened, Gold?" she demanded, taking a step towards the man, who stood, his suit nearly impeccably neat, bar a small patch of dark red on his sleeve where he must have caught Belle.

"Mr Hook, it would seem, has a grudge against me. Belle was unfortunately caught in the middle."

"What were you even doing with her? Why did you involve her in your schemes? People around you always get hurt Gold," Ruby's voice was steadily rising as she slowly stepped closer to Gold, who could see the wolf in Ruby's human eyes for the first time. He was losing his cool, just a little. "And if she can't be healed properly, if she's harmed again, I will not hesitate to rip your head from your shoulders. And the only reason I haven't killed you yet, is because I know that you'll do whatever you can to bring her memories back." Ruby felt a shiver run through her as the wolf begged for Gold's head to be separated from his body.

"Miss Lucas, believe me, the last thing I wanted was for Belle to be involved in this-" the man said, attempting to keep his cool.

"Well she is! And it's your fault!"

"Don't you think I know that?" he exploded, in such a simultaneously pained and angry tone that even Ruby was a little taken aback by. "Don't you think I'd give anything to get her back? That I wished I'd killed that damn pirate when I had the chance?"

"IT WAS YOUR FAULT HE WAS AFTER YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE!" shouted Ruby in reply. "IF YOU HADN'T-"

"ENOUGH!" roared Snow, leaving Whale – who was sitting on the floor, his breathing now steady – and getting in between the two, who had been edging closer and closer together so now barely a step was between them. "Fighting will get you nowhere! Focus on what's really important; finding a way to help Belle. Working together will be faster than separately." She glared at Gold, and then looked to Ruby. Gold looked deep into Ruby's eyes, both of them looking as though they were trying to explode the other's brain with their mind, but then they looked away simultaneously.

"Since Belle has her personal guard dog," he spat as Ruby bristled. "…to look after her, I shall take my leave. I'll make a start on finding a cure for her memories." Mr Gold then turned and walked away down the corridor, his cane clacking against the shiny clean floor.

"Oh, and Gold?" called Ruby. Gold stopped and turned. "Guards dogs bite, if you're not careful."

"I can't wait for Belle to be back just so she can put your leash back on," he spat in reply.

Ruby made a move towards him, but Snow held out a hand to stop her.

"Don't, he's just trying to wind you up," she hissed in Ruby's ear. Ruby knew this, of course, but nothing would give her greater pleasure than to sink her teeth into the former imp's flesh.

Once Gold had left their immediate vicinity, Snow turned to Ruby. Whale had gotten up and escaped the scene so subtly that they neither noticed nor cared that he was gone. Ruby returned to the room with Snow, sitting by the bed until she dozed off, at which point Snow covered her friend with a blanket and ran her hand on Belle's arm. She had grown fond of the librarian. She was a lovely girl, and she made Ruby happy. So she too, though unbeknownst to Ruby or Gold, she too wanted her to get better as fast as possible.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's note: Sorry about the wait :) I hope you like this one. Please review and comment, all the mistakes are mine. Thank you for reading :)

* * *

"Where am I?" Ruby heard the soft, vulnerable voice, and her eyes shot open, immediately throwing off the blanket and sitting up straight. For a moment, she was speechless. Belle had never looked at her like this before; her eyes lost and full of confusion. Ruby wasn't sure, but she thought she saw a glimmer of recognition, or at least some form of feeling when she saw the werewolf.

"You're in hospital," stammered Ruby eventually, when Belle raised an eyebrow as Ruby just stared.

"What happened to me?" she asked; her attention and her hand being drawn to the bandage on her shoulder.

"You were shot. You… when you fell, you must have hit your head. Dr Whale said you most likely would have amnesia." Ruby sincerely hoped that Belle didn't hear her voice crack slightly on the word 'amnesia'.

"Right…" Belle's brow furrowed as she tried to process everything. "How long have I been here?"

"Two days," replied Ruby. She had only left twice – for a maximum of four hours – and had been dozing on and off at Belle's bedside.

"Who are you? And who was that man that found me?" asked Belle, looking at her properly for the first time. Ruby desperately looked for any recognition, but Belle's blue eyes were dull, the spark that used to light them now dimmed.

"I'm Ruby. I'm… a friend," she said quietly. She felt the emotion well up within her. She wanted to tell her everything, but that was way too much to take in, and she didn't want Belle to be scared away. And she doubted she could actually hold up if Belle questioned it. She was already nearly breaking. "And the man was Mr Gold."

"He…" Belle stopped and frowned. She could remember the man holding a ball of fire. That was NOT normal, was it? Maybe it was, she didn't know.

"He what?" inquired Ruby as gently as she could, seeing Belle's teeth press down on her lip like she always did when she was thinking.

"Nothing, it was nothing." Belle did not want to sound crazy, not when this woman clearly cared about her. She didn't want to worry the only person she felt comfortable with in this place.

"Are you sure?" asked Ruby tenderly. Belle was about to answer when the door opened. Both women turned towards it, Ruby glancing over her shoulder.

"Miss Lucas." Mr Gold stood in the door way with his cane, a folded newspaper under his arm.

"Gold," she replied coldly, standing. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Belle squinting slightly, as if trying to work out who he was to her. She also knew that Belle was probably sensing the sudden chill in the atmosphere.

"I require a word with Belle." Ruby didn't move but stood rooted to the spot, her teeth bared ever so slightly in a menacing growl. Then she felt a feather light touch on her arm.

"I'll be fine," whispered Belle quietly. Ruby shot a glare at Gold, who looked unperturbed. Ruby took Belle's hand, giving it a squeeze.

"You just shout if you need me, okay?" she said earnestly. Belle caught her sincerity and nodded, biting her lip. Ruby turned and squared up to Gold, her nose inches from his. She was glad of her slight height advantage.

"You have an hour," she stated quietly. Gold gave a small huff of a laugh.

"I will not be dictated to by a mutt."

"This _mutt_ will bite your head off if you do anything to Belle," she growled, fists clenching.

"I think she is in safer hands with me than with a wolf," he replied calmly.

"Listen, imp…"

"Look," he said, cutting her off. He raised the newspaper and tossed it over his shoulder. "Fetch," he said with a small smirk, his eyes meeting Ruby's. The pools of hazel flashed gold as Ruby reached forwards, gripping him by the lapels. "I wouldn't do that in front of your little love." Ruby glanced over to see Belle looking anxious and a little scared at the hushed conversation and Ruby's actions. Grumbling, Ruby let go and sauntered out.

"Thank you, Ruby," called Belle quietly. Ruby paused in the doorway and looked at Belle, her eyes full of love.

"Anytime," she replied as she left; her bad mood evaporating with those few little words. Walking down to the waiting room, she called Emma to come and pick her up. Snow had called her earlier that day – sounding rather miffed – to say that Emma's leg had finally mended itself with a little help from Regina's magic. Ruby had chuckled at Snow's tone; the teacher was glad that her daughter was well again, but the fact that Regina had been the source of it was a little much for her to handle. Snow had then ranted about Regina for the next fifteen minutes while Ruby half-listened, playing absent-mindedly with the sleeping Belle's fingers. Ruby's plan now was to go back and report Belle's condition to the others, maybe get a decent meal from Granny afterwards. She knew Gold wouldn't hurt Belle. He loved her. That was the only thing they shared, their love for Belle. After waiting for ten minutes, she saw the distinctive bright yellow car pull up in front of the building. Smiling, she hurried out, hands over her head to shield her from the rain. It was a shame; the rain had melted the snow by now, and Ruby couldn't help but think over her and Belle's little adventures in the white powder. It hurt, but she clung onto them like a lifeline.

"Hey, Rubes," said Emma as Ruby wrenched open the door and climbed inside.

"Hey," replied Ruby, shutting the door and strapping herself in. Emma rolled onto the road and began their journey back, squinting through the rain drops on the windscreen before they were scraped away by the window wipers.

"How's Belle?" asked Emma, glancing at Ruby, trying to gauge the situation by her facial expressions.

"She's fine. She's with Gold," Ruby said flatly. "She can't remember. There are times I think I can see the old Belle, but then it passes."

"We'll find a cure; they're already working on it."

"I don't trust Gold," she said gruffly, folding her arms.

"He won't hurt her," replied Emma, trying to ease Ruby's mind.

"If he does, he won't live long enough to regret it."

"I'm sure nobody will stand in your way," said Emma with a smile. Ruby returned her smile, feeling a little better, but there was a bad feeling in her gut.

"Ruby!" squealed Snow as a tired Ruby entered the diner, Emma following close behind her. Ruby was engulfed in a tight hug, which she returned happily, but was slightly confused as to why. Looking over Snow's shoulder, she saw Regina rising elegantly from the table. Seeing nobody else in the diner, she realised that Snow and Regina must have been stuck here, with only each other's company. The thought made Ruby smirk a little. "I feel like I haven't seen you for ages!"

"I know!" replied Ruby. Snow released her and Ruby headed over to the counter as Granny appeared from the kitchen.

"Finally dragged your tail back here, then?" she said gruffly, but with a wide smile on her face. Ruby leaned over and gave her Granny a tight hug, the familiar scent of the woman instantly comforting her. Granny released her after a moment.

"You look like you haven't eaten well for days, girl. Stay right there, no complaints!" she added as Ruby opened her mouth to object, she didn't want Granny to go to any trouble. Smiling to herself, she realised how much she had missed her little family. She hadn't seen any of them properly for the past week or so. Turning, she was greeted by the sight of Regina and Emma sharing an intimate kiss by the doorway, and Snow leaning against a table, a frown on her face as she tried to look anywhere but at her daughter. Ruby sniggered at the former Queen's awkwardness. Said former Queen shot a glare at the wolf. The former _Evil Queen_ was aware of the silent exchange between the two and, catching the eye of Ruby – who was still sniggering at Snow's obvious discomfort – let out a low moan. Snow's eyebrows rocketed into her hairline as she covered her face with her hand, her fist clenched against the edge of the table. Unable to restrain herself any more, Ruby let out a laugh that rent the silence, causing Regina and Emma to pull apart, Emma looking confused while Regina's eyes flicked from the cackling Ruby to the embarrassed Snow, an amused smile on her lips.

"What?" asked Emma, looking to the other three; Ruby couldn't speak. Snow wouldn't speak. Regina just shrugged. After a moment, she clicked. "God, are you still not comfortable with this?" she asked, her tone exasperated.

"I said nothing," replied Snow, holding up her hands.

"You didn't have to," smiled Emma, sitting opposite her mother. She knew that there would always be tension between Regina and Snow, and it was a lot to ask that her mother be okay with her daughter loving Snow's step-mother, but she was glad they were at the stage where they could laugh about it. And that Regina and Snow could stay in the same room without killing each other or throwing snide remarks about apples.

"At least we cheered up Ruby," said Regina, resting a hand on Emma's shoulder – Snow couldn't suppress a little glare – and then crossing the room to perch on the next table, slightly closer to Ruby. Ruby had nearly recovered from her laughing fit. She had needed that, after days of worrying non-stop. Though Ruby wasn't ready to forgive Regina for her past crimes, she, more than anyone, knew the value of a second chance. Snow had accepted her for who she was. Now she was prepared to do the same for Regina. She was a little wary of her still, but she made Emma happy. And she had proven herself.

"Ruby, sit up straight, girl!" snapped Granny as Ruby opened her mouth to reply. Granny placed a plate of pancakes and bacon in front of Ruby and shuffled off again. "And tables are for eating, not sitting, your Majesty," she added as the old woman entered the kitchen again. Regina looked a little taken aback, eyebrows raised in surprise, but her amused smile blossomed on her lips as she took a seat next to Ruby, leaving one stool in between them. Ruby noticed this and patted the stool next to her, gesturing for Regina to come closer.

"It's alright, I don't bite," she said lightly. Regina moved closer gratefully. Regina was aware that some residents still weren't keen on her. Her first reaction would be to avoid them until she required their help for whatever reason, but for Henry and Emma's sake, she made an effort. But she didn't intrude or force her company on people. She waited to be invited in. And it happened surprisingly often.

"I'm sorry about Belle," said Regina after a minute of silence, save only for Ruby's cutlery against the plate. Snow and Emma were still talking at their table.

"Thank you."

"If you need something…" the former Queen started, but she couldn't seem to find the words to finish.

"I will, Regina," Ruby replied. After that, they began talking amicably as Ruby finished her meal.

Ruby strode back into the hospital in higher spirits than she had an hour ago. The sun was beginning its descent into the horizon. Regina had just dropped her off on her way to pick up Henry, and Ruby said she'd call if she needed anything. Ruby climbed the stairs and walked down the corridor to Belle's room. Opening the door, she froze. Belle was gone. Ducking back out before panic overtook her completely, she located a nurse. She said that she hadn't seen Belle or Gold, but informed her that a patient called Belle French had been released earlier that day. Ruby growled as she left the poor nurse bemused. Ruby did not bother calling anyone. She reached the doors and sprinted, making a bee-line for Gold's shop. Gold had gone too far. He was meddling, trying to twist this situation so that he came out on top. Ruby was not about to give up without a fight.

"GOLD!" roared Ruby, throwing the doors of his shop open. Mr Gold stood at the counter in his flawless suit.

"Miss Lucas, what a _pleasant_ surprise-" he started, but Ruby leaned across the counter and grabbed his head, smashing it against the glass top. It didn't shatter, but the glass cracked, creating a pattern of spider web fractures through it. Gold moaned in pain, clutching his head.

"What have you done with her?" she demanded, yanking his hair as she brought her face close to his ear. She could smell the blood from his cut above his eyebrow.

"I brought her home," he rasped in reply.

"I swear to God, Gold, I will _kill_ you!" she yelled as she raised his head again, slamming it down on the glass again. Her ears picked up his moans of pain, the cane clattering to the floor, and a noise from upstairs. It didn't matter. She clenched her fist again in his hair, raising his head once more, about to send it crashing back down onto the blood stained, cracked glass when:

"What on earth is going on here?!" Ruby froze. The red haze of fury immediately drained from her. Looking up at the doorway that led to the back of the shop, she saw Belle, standing in a nightdress, looking afraid and angry.

"Belle…" she breathed. Her eyes met the aquamarine pools, and for a second, she convinced herself that the Belle she knew was looking back at her. It brought a small smile to her face. Then the moment shattered when Belle reached for a long wooden block from a table, holding it aloft.

"Get your hands off of him!" she yelled, taking a step forwards. Ruby realised her situation, how it must look. She released Gold and stepped back, bloodied hands held aloft as Gold slid to the floor.

"Belle, please, this isn't-" she began, but Belle's eyes were on Gold, an expression of deep concern that had previously only been directed at Ruby. She could almost hear her heart cracking. Ruby took another step back, not noticing that tears were falling down her face. Belle looked up, and Ruby could see the anger evaporating momentarily, as if she recognised her. Just for a moment.

"Ruby?" she said quietly, and for the first time, it sounded like the old Belle, uttering the name of her love instead of this Belle saying the name of a stranger.

"It's me," she whimpered in reply. Her strength was gone. She was broken. Belle let the wooden block fall to her side as she took a shaking step forwards, a tear in her left eye. Then she shook her head.

"I think you should leave," she said coldly. It took everything Ruby had not to collapse to the floor and weep.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly as she turned and left the shop, slamming the door behind her and running. Just running. Into the woods. When she couldn't run any more, she just stopped, falling against a tree as sobs wracked her body, tears falling freely. She gripped the tree trunk so hard her nails scratched deep gouges into the bark. The rains of the night before had washed away the snow. The same rain now poured down on her, diluting her tears. However it could not ease her grief. Nothing could. All she wanted was to kill Gold for taking her away from her. But Belle would hate her more. Damned if she did. Damned if she didn't. Basically, she was damned.


	9. Chapter 9

Hey, first, I must apologise, I think this one is longer than my average, but there was so much to get down. Also, most of this was written at night when I was pretty tired, so if some stuff doesn't add up, I apologise. All the mistakes are mine, and I really want to thank all the people who sent me such lovely reviews, they make my day, and to all the people who read this, thank you so much. Reviews and comments are welcomed and greatly appreciated.

* * *

"Ruby! Where the hell have you been?" exclaimed Emma, leaping from her seat as Ruby dragged her tired and soaking body into the inn from the darkness outside. Ruby glanced up to see Regina sitting in the front room on the sofa. Emma had been sitting with her head in her hands next to Regina until the door had opened, thinking about whether Ruby was okay. Granny - her wolf hearing still in perfect working order - had darted from the kitchen where she was keeping herself busy and thundered into the room. The old woman's hands clasped Ruby's forearms – the fabric beneath her fingers was freezing cold and soaked. Granny opened her mouth to scold her, but the look of pure grief and helplessness on her grand-daughter's face made her words die in her throat. Emma, however, was in a less forgiving mood.

"Ruby, you've been gone for hours! Anything could have happened to you! We were worried that Gold had-"

"Gold doesn't need to do anything," mumbled Ruby through chattering teeth. Her pale skin looked almost sickly, her usually bright eyes dimmed. "He's already won." At this, Emma backed off. Ruby was broken. After a moment of silence, Granny placed a hand on Ruby's back.

"Emma, can you take Ruby upstairs and make sure she's not sleeping in these wet clothes?" she requested softly. Ruby was not crying; she had run out of tears a while ago. Still, water dripped from her long dark hair over her face, creating the same effect. Emma nodded and laid an arm over Ruby's shoulders, guiding the poor girl into the hall and up the stairs. Ruby put up no resistance; she didn't have the strength. As Ruby's body automatically followed Emma's direction, Regina and Granny were left in the room.

"Will she be alright?" asked Regina, a little surprised at the concern in her own tone. She found that she genuinely cared for Ruby – if wanting to curse Gold to hell for upsetting her counted as caring.

"I don't know," replied Granny, shuffling back into the kitchen of the diner to close up. Regina followed behind her, her heels clacking against the wooden floor.

Emma sat Ruby down on the bed and fetched some pyjamas from the drawer.

"Ruby?" she said softly, laying the pyjamas on the bed. Ruby was staring at the floor, not responding. Emma gently shook her shoulder, drawing Ruby's sad eyes from the floor to Emma. "We have to get you dried off, or you'll get sick." Ruby nodded in reply, but didn't move. Her eyes seemed glassy and distant. Emma fetched a towel from the bathroom across the hall from Ruby's room and began drying Ruby's hair for her, sitting behind her on the bed. Once she had finished, she ordered Ruby to change into her pyjamas by the time she came back upstairs, closing the door behind her, leaving Ruby huddled on the bed, looking empty.

"I've never seen her like this," said Emma as she entered the diner. Granny was just clearing up, wiping down tables while Regina sat, her long black trench coat covering her usual business suit.

"Neither have I," replied Granny, concerned. Suddenly, the diner door opened, causing Regina to cut her own interjection short. "Sorry, we're closing in a few minutes…" started Granny, turning, but her voice tailed off as Belle stumbled in through the doorway. None of the three women spoke, just looked at the curly haired librarian as she closed the door and turned, rainwater flying off of her ringlets. She looked up, the coy smile on her face instantly evaporating under the intensity of the stares. Though none of the trio betrayed any emotion, Belle could sense there was something wrong.

"Hello," said Belle, feeling a tad awkward as she stood there.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" asked Granny, sharply. She loved Belle. She could think of no-one better for her little Ruby. But right now she had to protect Ruby. And having Belle stumbling into the diner in the dead of night would do Ruby no good.

"I… I was wondering if Ruby was here," she replied, looking at the floor.

"Why?" asked Granny, her aggressive tone cutting through the tension.

"She… she's the only person other than Gold that I know here since…" Glancing at the floor again, she took a breath, collecting her thoughts. "I wanted to know why she was so angry at Gold. She's…" Belle paused, swallowing slightly.

"Ruby's not really in a talking mood," replied Emma as she shot a look at Granny, who looked ready to bite someone's head off.

"Is she alright?" asked Belle, looking concerned.

"Not really," said Emma, honestly.

"Oh," Belle looked disheartened. "Can you… can you tell her I asked for her?" The earnest plea in her voice made Emma forget for a moment that this wasn't the 'real' Belle.

"I will," replied Emma, neglecting to say that she wouldn't right now. Ruby needed time to process everything.

"Thank you, Emma. I'm sorry to have bothered you," she said quietly, backing out of the door and back into the rain.

Emma returned a few minutes later to Ruby's room, where she was glad to see Ruby changed and dry, but she was sprawled out on the bed on top of the covers, staring at the wall.

"I heard her." Her tone was flat.

"I'm sorry," Emma replied. She could think of nothing else to say. If Regina suddenly forgot her and was with an ex, she knew she'd be like this too. "Get under the covers, keep yourself warm." Emma eased the covers from under Ruby and tucked the tall girl in.

"Do you need anything else?" asked Emma, running a hand over Ruby's slightly damp hair. Ruby shook her head, curling up into a tight ball.

"Thank you," she mumbled tiredly as her eyes fluttered shut.

"No problem," smiled Emma. She planted a gentle kiss in Ruby's hair before she switched the light off and closed the door.

Belle hurried across the road and down the street, hands over her head in a vain attempt to keep the rain from drenching her, the water drops glinting orange from the lights of the streetlamps. To be honest, it wouldn't have mattered – she was already soaked. Mr Gold had taken her home earlier that day, and he told her to spend the day inside. After the event with Ruby in the morning, Mr Gold had been reluctant to let her out. He was recovering well, but when he had finally fallen asleep, she had sneaked out. Ruby had been kind to her in the hospital; it had shocked her to see the other woman being so violent. But she had stopped as soon as Belle had appeared. If Ruby was strong enough to take on Mr Gold, then Belle wouldn't have fazed her, she assumed. But no, Ruby had frozen, looking almost fearful from Belle's presence alone. There was something else going on here. She wished she could remember, but it was just blank. At times, she thought something bled through, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. After sneaking out, she had wandered the town in the hope of remembering something, but nothing came to her. The rain didn't bother her all that much. Her eyes soon fell on the diner where Ruby said she worked and Belle thought she might see if Ruby was okay. What she didn't understand was the reaction she received when she entered. The three women; one of whom she guessed was Granny – Ruby described her well. The smart looking one she assumed was Regina, the Mayor. That left the blonde – Emma. The trio had regarded her with a coldness bordering on hostility. Regina seemed the least defensive towards her. Emma and Granny on the other hand were hiding something. And Belle couldn't explain the slight sinking feeling in her stomach when she was told she couldn't see Ruby. She hoped fervently that the girl was alright. Mr Gold hadn't left the shop after the… event and Belle had tended to his wounds as well as she could – he downright refused to go to hospital or get a doctor. Belle now wandered back to the shop, hoping to sneak in and change out of her wet clothes and curl up in bed, hoping the next day would bring more clarity.

Ruby rolled over, attempting to sleep. She was tired. So very tired. All she wanted to do was sleep until this whole thing had blown over. Or to wake up and it was all a dream. But her mind raced as she recalled Belle's uncertain but concerned voice earlier. True, her wonderfully accented words were muffled by the walls and distance, but Ruby could make out every word. A small part of the wolf girl wanted nothing more than to fly down the stairs and hold Belle close, but her rational mind ordered her not to. It would only hurt her more. It would be best to just try to move on. Belle was with Gold now. She was his. And if she was happy, she wouldn't do anything to endanger that. But Belle, even in her amnesiac state still cared enough about Ruby to come and see her. She had wanted to yell to Emma and the others to let her come upstairs, but she stayed quiet. Hugging her covers closer to her, she lay on her side and closed her eyes; images of her time with Belle running on a loop in her head, regardless of her desperate pleas to stop. Safe to say, Ruby didn't sleep until at least one more tear dripped down her face.

Belle lay awake in her bed, her mind in turmoil. Three days had passed since she had returned from the hospital. Something was wrong. She wished she could remember. Mr Gold was lovely to her, but Ruby was too. Belle was torn. Mr Gold was sleeping on the sofa, allowing her to sleep in the bed. But she felt odd; confined, like this wasn't where she belonged. Whenever she caught a few hours of sleep, strange images always swept through her head; some large creature with ferocious teeth and massive claws would stalk her, but she wasn't afraid of it for some reason. Books usually appeared somewhere. A kiss… Softer than Mr Gold's. Physically shaking her head to clear it of these troublesome thoughts, she rolled onto her side, burying her cheek into the fabric and waited for sleep to claim her. It soon did, sweeping over her and whisking her off into a land of dreams, filled with representations of her waking thoughts. A wolf, books, a kiss – these were the happy parts. Then other, darker things bled through the images, blending the happiness into confusion as she dreamt of a man… with a hook. He pursued her. She ran. She was in a lift. Everything blurred until she saw Mr Gold standing on the other side of the town line, talking excitedly. About what, she didn't know.

Suddenly, there was pain in her shoulder as she fell, and then she woke up, screaming, her limbs tangled in the sheets as she clutched her shoulder, glad to see there was no injury. Her breathing began to slow as she scrabbled in the darkness for the lamp, flicking it on and sitting up more comfortably. She hoped her scream didn't wake Mr Gold. Though he was nice, and she knew she had some connection to him, Belle had a feeling that he just wasn't… right. Her racing heart calmed itself after a few moments, and she reached for a book. It was one from a pile that Mr Gold had given her. It was the last one she had left to read. It was very, very old looking, the pages yellowed with age. Opening the page, she placed a hand on her chest, just below her neck as she began to read. It was a book of stories, or fairy-tales. She seemed to remember Henry had a larger one earlier, and that, plus the name of the town, made a very strange coincidence. Maybe her memories could come back by magic, she scoffed to herself.

She paused on a page, her hand stilled as if by some supernatural force. Looking at the title, she whispered it aloud before she began to read, the four words alone seeming to mystically calm her.

"Little Red Riding Hood."

Ruby woke up with a start, at four o'clock in the morning, a gut wrenching scream reaching her ears. Immediately identifying the owner of such a terrified scream, she knew it was Belle. Her ears seemed to be more sensitive to Belle than to anyone else. It used to be a blessing; as she could hear Belle approaching from outside of the diner if she listened hard enough, and sometimes, is she concentrated really hard, she could hear the librarian muttering to herself as she read from across the street at night. But now it was a curse. It forced her to scurry into the kitchen whenever the brunette passed by outside, usually in the company of Gold. She was excruciatingly aware of their easy conversations. Every time Belle laughed was like a dagger through her heart. She was glad she was happy, of course. But not happy with her. She internally scolded herself for being so selfish.

Back to the present, Ruby launched herself out of bed and across the room, wrenching open the door and flying down the stairs and out of the building. Her sleep-addled brain could only process one thing – Belle was scared. And that wasn't allowed. If Gold had harmed her, Ruby would not rest until she had felt his blood pour from his veins between her teeth. Darting across the road, the heavy rain still pouring down on her, soaking her pyjamas, which barely kept out the cold at all – she was dressed in a pair of black shorts with a red tank top, her feet bare. Halting at Gold's shop, she burst through the doorway, throwing it right off its hinges. Her figure was a blur as she ran to the apartment.

"Little Red Riding Hood," whispered Belle, and not a moment later, she heard a loud crash from somewhere in the shop, and a second later, her bedroom door flew open and a dark figure stood in the shadows of the hall, leaning against the door-frame and panting. Startled, Belle froze, staring at the figure in fright. Before she could say anything, the figure spoke.

"Belle, are you alright?" they asked, and Belle felt her pulse calm as the voice registered.

"Ruby?" she said incredulously. Ruby stepped forwards, her entire figure soaking wet, her clothes… or really, lack of clothes, were sodden. "What are you-" Belle started, but her eyes widened in horror as there was a loud thump, and Ruby fell to the floor in a heap, Mr Gold – wearing his suit as usual – stood wielding his cane. Belle leapt across the bed and crouched by Ruby's side.

"Ruby? Ruby, oh my God, Ruby!" she cried, tenderly brushing Ruby's pale face as she gently rolled her over. After a few moments, Ruby groaned groggily as her eyes fluttered open.

"What the hell are you doing here, Lucas?" growled Gold. He stood in the doorway, cane still held ready.

"Belle screamed, you imp!" snapped Ruby, but winced, a hand clutching the back of her head and curling into a ball as she fought back tears of pain. Belle's cool hand on her arm helped a little. Belle, sensing a fight, decided to take matters into her own hands. She may not have her memories, but she had had enough.

"Silence, both of you!" she yelled, getting to her feet. Gold's mouth snapped shut, the retort dying on his lips. Ruby tried to sit up a bit to pay closer attention, but her head swam and it was all she could do to keep her eyes open. "Now I don't know what kind of feud you two have, but it needs to stop! You are the only two people I know in this town! I want to get my memories back, and if one of you kills the other, I will not be happy! So both of you learn to get along!" She heaved a breath, looking pointedly at Gold. He lowered the cane and stepped back, melting into the shadows in the dark hallway, his footsteps fading as he walked away. Belle knelt down next to Ruby and eased her into a sitting position. Ruby still refused to remove the hand at the back of her head.

"Are you alright?" asked Ruby, for the second time, her voice a little slurred. Belle was a little taken aback.

"You've just been hit on the back of the head, and you're asking me if _I'm _okay?" she said with a warm smile as she ran a finger gently through Ruby's hair.

"Yeah," said Ruby simply. She was still dizzy, her head aching. Belle was desperate to know why Ruby had just appeared in her room at this time, right after she had screamed, but it was impossible for her to have heard her, right?

"Come on, I'll help you get back," said Belle, grabbing Ruby's arm and helping her up. Ruby felt like she was drunk, wobbling on her feet before nearly crashing back onto the bed. Only Belle held her up.

"I'm sorry to barge in on you like this," Ruby apologised sincerely. Somewhere in her cloudy mind she was berating herself for acting so rashly.

"Don't worry about it," said Belle. She could get answers in the morning, when Ruby felt better.

Progress was slow, as Belle was smaller than Ruby, and had to support a lot of her weight. But Belle persevered, and slowly but surely, they made it out of the shop – Ruby taking less care than she could have around Gold's things. Belle noticed that the door now lay on the floor. Glancing at the woman who was leaning against her, she wondered how she could have summoned the strength to knock it right off its hinges all by herself. There was definitely something odd going on here. Stepping out into the street, Ruby – feeling a little better – tried to take the weight off of Belle, who had an arm wrapped around Ruby's back, steadying her at the shoulder while her other arm looped around her stomach. Belle was grateful that she wasn't wearing her heels, even as her foot plunged into a deep puddle of icy cold water. She wouldn't have been able to get this far if she was tottering about in those death-traps. Beloved death-traps, she corrected. She would have longed for a coat, but she found she didn't really mind the rain, even though she was cold and wet. Ruby's warm body was pressed close to her own, warding off the chill of early morning. The sun was not yet up.

"Nearly there," panted Belle as she pushed open the unlocked door to the inn.

Belle laid Ruby down on the couch in the sitting room. The stairs were insurmountable with Ruby in this state. She considered waking Granny, but the old woman stormed inside at that very thought, stopping short when she saw Belle, clad in a dripping nightdress, standing over Ruby, also soaked, who was moaning softly in pain. After a hurried explanation, Granny was ready to march across the road and shoot Gold through the eye for what he had done, but Belle begged her not to. Taking pity on the poor girl, Granny let things lie for now, until Ruby was better. The pair of them had tended to her wound – which had not drawn blood, just knocked her a little. Belle was quickly left to apply ice to prevent swelling while Granny shuffled off to bed, knowing Ruby was in capable hands.


	10. Chapter 10

Hey again, just here to say that I'm so glad people like this and want more, and the reviews make my day. I'm trying my best not to disappoint :) Thanks to all the people who had reviewed so far, and all the people who read this. Once again, all the mistakes are mine, and I hope you enjoy.

* * *

Belle stayed up until the sunlight started streaming through the window. She had shifted Ruby's legs earlier and sat on the other end of the sofa while her friend slept, looking up from her book that she had found on the table to check that Ruby was okay. She didn't really mind, it felt natural to be in her presence, a lot more comfortable than in Mr Gold's, especially now that he had battered Ruby. Although, she thought, she had seen Ruby smashing his face into the shop counter, and yet she wasn't afraid of her. She still wondered why Ruby had stopped when she came in. Maybe now she would have the chance to ask her, as she got the feeling that Ruby was avoiding her. Perhaps she could ask about that too. She had so much she felt she should know, that she _did_ know, but had forgotten, or lost. But she wasn't stupid, and after what she had seen of the town, after what she had overheard from the inhabitants who thought she wasn't listening, she was smart enough to realise that this town wasn't exactly normal. Whispers of magic followed her at every turn, and Belle had a strange image of Mr Gold with a fireball in his hand ingrained in her mind.

It was around seven in the morning when Ruby stirred, groaning and stretching. Cracking open her eyes, she saw Belle curled up at the other end of her sofa. She recognised the surroundings and realised she was back at the inn. Belle hadn't noticed she was awake, as she took a moment to watch the librarian's eyes traverse the page she was on. Ruby didn't realise she was staring until Belle went to turn the page and habitually looked up, catching Ruby in the act.

"You're awake," she said, closing the book and placing it on the table, a small smile on her face.

"My head hurts," Ruby replied, feeling it throb painfully whenever she touched it, retracting her hand quickly.

"I'll admit Mr Gold was pretty rough." Ruby suddenly let out a loud groan. "What's wrong?" asked Belle, concern plastered across her face.

"I busted into your room in the middle of the night!" she said, covering her face with her hands. Belle let out an airy, light laugh at this, a sound Ruby loved.

"Why did you?" asked Belle, a little confused that she hadn't really considered it sooner. Like she was used to it, or expected it. _How odd,_ she thought.

"I… I heard you scream," said Ruby, sitting up properly and refusing to look Belle in the eye.

"What, do you have bat-hearing or something?" laughed Belle. When Ruby didn't reply, Belle took a breath. "Ruby, this is going to sound crazy, but is this town… not… normal?" she said carefully, gauging Ruby's reaction. First, Ruby's eyebrows shot up, looking at Belle, mouth open slightly as if contemplating how much to tell her. Belle watched as Ruby thought for a while, her eyes darting from one corner of the room to the other, a hand running through her hair, as was her habit, only to wince in pain from her wound again. Realising that she had to speak soon, she made her decision.

"Belle," started Ruby. Belle sat up a little straighter, arms crossed. "What I'm going to tell you will sound insane, but it's true, you have to believe me." Belle only nodded, urging her to continue. "The people in Storybrooke aren't normal. We're… we're from another world. We were brought to this world by a curse, cast by The Evil Queen, Regina Mills."

"The Mayor?" asked Belle, remembering the name. Ruby nodded and continued.

"We all have other lives, as the curse kept us here for twenty eight years…" Ruby continued to explain as Belle sat there, absorbing all of the information; about the world, the politics that led to the events, magic, Mr Gold, and even Belle's past.

"So I was royalty?" asked Belle. Ruby huffed a laugh.

"Yes. But you agreed to live with The Dark One to save your kingdom and family. You were his… maid."

"Who were you?" asked Belle. Ruby didn't mention Belle and Gold's past relationship.

"I was called Red."

"Like Red Riding Hood?"

"Yeah. I had a cloak that was red, it stopped me from turning. I was a… a werewolf," she said quietly, watching Belle's face for any sign of fear. Belle, however, was thinking over her dreams, the wolf that she wasn't afraid of.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Ruby looked round, but hissed in pain as the pain in her head spiked. Belle got up and opened the front door of the inn, only a fraction in case it was Gold wanting to fight with Ruby again. But Belle saw a woman standing in the doorway, a black umbrella held over her head, keeping her black suit and dark hair dry.

"Regina," said Belle. She was a little apprehensive, after finding out that Regina had locked her up for twenty eight years to punish Mr Gold. Regina seemed to note the lack of trust, and the smile fell from her face.

"Are you alright?" she asked, uncharacteristically warm, scrutinising the librarian's face and then taking in her attire. "Has somebody been having fun with a certain werewolf-?" she began with a smug smile on her lips.

"Regina, is that you?" called Ruby from within. Regina raised her eyebrows at Belle's confused look.

"Yes, is everything okay?" she called back. Clearly Belle had not been told everything, if anything about her past.

"Yes, come in," replied Ruby. Belle opened the door wide and stepped aside, letting Regina in. Regina left her umbrella by the door and walked inside, eyeing Belle curiously. Belle returned the look with slightly narrowed eyes as she walked into the kitchen.

"What's wrong with Belle?" Regina asked as she entered the living room. Then she saw Ruby lying on the couch. "What's wrong with you?" Ruby hurriedly explained about the events at Gold's the previous night, and then informed Regina that Belle now knew that she was the one to lock her away. She also added that they hadn't discussed their relationship.

"Oh," she said, caught between amusement and a little bit of shame about the 'locking-up-Belle-incident'. Belle returned with an ice-pack wrapped in a tea towel and offered it to Ruby, who took it gratefully and held it against her head. Belle sat down on the sofa by Ruby's feet, and the wolf-girl gladly curled up a little more to give her room. Regina sat on an armchair, choosing the one closer to Ruby then Belle.

"Not that I don't enjoy your company," smiled Ruby. "But what are you doing here?" Regina never usually popped over for tea and a chat – not without Emma.

"I have some good news," she said. "About Belle's memories." Both Ruby and Belle's eyebrows rose in surprise, paying complete attention. "There is a spell I can cast to bring them back –"

"Do it!" yelled Belle and Ruby simultaneously. Regina looked a little surprised and alarmed by such a reaction.

"But I need an object that was close to Belle's heart. A… talisman of sorts."

Ruby looked confused, Belle too. Regina sighed.

"The imp seemed quite taken with a particular cup, with a small chip in it. I believe that this was your talisman," Regina explained a little slower than necessary. While Ruby looked a little apprehensive, Belle looked eager.

"Yes, I've seen it in Mr Gold's shop. I asked him about it once, but he wouldn't tell me about it."

"Well, if we can get our hands on it, I can try a spell. Magic is temperamental in this land though, so the results might not be as expected," she said with a slight shrug.

"It's worth a try, right?" said Belle, looking at Ruby. Ruby was more cautious. She wanted nothing more than to have her Belle back, but what if the spell went wrong and harmed her, or worse?

"I don't know. It seems risky," said Ruby honestly. Belle gave her a strange look but Regina seemed to agree.

"I thought I'd flag it up for you, in case you wanted to try. You know where I am if you change your mind," said Regina, looking at Belle before she got up and strode out of the room, leaving Ruby and Belle looking at each other for a little longer than normal.

"What do you think?" asked Belle finally.

"I think my head hurts too much to think this through properly," replied Ruby, moving the ice pack into a better position against her skull. Belle got up and left the room, her nightdress swishing against her legs as she walked, leaving Ruby a little confused. The librarian returned a minute later, holding a glass of water and a couple of tablets in her hand.

"Here," she said, handing her the two little white pills. Ruby took them gratefully and quickly downed them both with the rest of the water.

"Thanks," Ruby replied as Belle sat back in her place. It almost seemed like old times, thought Ruby as she smiled fondly at Belle – who was biting her lip, indicating to Ruby that she was deep in thought. "What're you going to do?" she asked.

"I'm not sure yet. I want my memories back, of course, but it does seem like a shot in the dark, even Regina said so…" she tailed off, as Ruby knew she often did when she was turning something over in her head. "I'll think on it tonight and decide tomorrow."

"Speaking of tonight, what's the story with Gold?" Ruby couldn't stop her tone from slipping from curious to spiteful at the mention of his name.

"I really don't want to go back there right now. I've never seen him like that before. Well, that I can remember, at least," she said, a tad sourly.

"I'm curious," said Ruby, feeling a little better and sitting up properly, one hand still on her head, holding the ice pack in place. "Why are you comfortable with me after you saw what I did to Gold, but if Gold whacks me once, you're like this?" Belle bit her lip again.

"I don't really know. I just feel… better… around you," she said quietly, not meeting her eyes, her hands twisting slightly in her lap. Ruby wanted to tell her everything – about how they were more than friends, how much she loved her, everything. But something stopped her. This Belle couldn't remember anything that may have shaped her feelings towards Ruby in the past. Maybe she'd find it weird to find out she used to love a werewolf. A girl. "Is that weird?" she asked, playing with one of her curls.

"Not really," replied Ruby kindly, as she reached out for Belle's hand, stilling it from its anxious hair-twirling and coming to rest on Ruby's leg, fingers clasped in the werewolf's. Belle looked a little surprised but happily so at the sudden contact. "Come on, let's go for a walk. I think fresh air will do the world of good for my head," she said, swinging her feet around onto the ground and standing up a little too quickly.

"Careful!" warned Belle as she darted up to Ruby's side, her hands grasping the taller woman's shoulder and arm, holding her as steadily as she could. Once the black curtain had lifted from Ruby's vision she looked down at Belle, and suddenly noticed their attire.

"Perhaps we should stay in for a bit," she said with a chuckle. Belle followed her gaze, hands gently sliding down the length of Ruby's arms and coming to rest at her hands.

"You don't mind if I stay for a while?" asked Belle, looking up at her.

"Of course not! Come on, there's a bunch of movies upstairs, we can have a lazy day." _Just like we used to_, she lamented silently.

"That sounds fantastic," smiled Belle, and they made their way to the stairs, Ruby slowly climbing with Belle's support when needed. Ruby was ashamed to admit that a few times, she had played up the dizziness just to have Belle closer to her.

The rest of the day they spent lying on Ruby's bed, watching DVDs of romcoms, then action movies, and then just anything. They took it in turns to pick, and while Belle didn't have much of a clue what the movies were about even when she had her memories, she still had the same taste as before. When they first started, Ruby and Belle lay on their respective sides, Ruby amazed that Belle still chose the left side. But as the first movie progressed, they grew closer and closer together, until Belle was lying with her head on Ruby's shoulder, her arms wrapped around her waist while Ruby played with her curls absently and had one hand clasped over Belle's own, their legs intertwined. _Just like old times_, she thought. But she didn't do anything more, out of fear that Belle would reject her. She still wasn't completely _her_ Belle, she had to remind herself. She suddenly noticed Belle's breathing had slowed and discovered that the shorter girl was asleep. Chuckling, Ruby continued to watch the movie. It occurred to her that it was pretty possible that Belle hadn't slept the night before. She had looked pretty tired that morning – now it was about midday. Ruby was about to suggest that they eat, but decided to leave it until Belle woke up. Besides, she didn't know when she could be this close to Belle again. She would savour it.


	11. Chapter 11

Hello lovely readers, I've been away with no internet, so I managed to get a lot of chapters done, so regular updates for a while :) As always, thanks for reading, and commenting should you choose to do so, and all mistakes, grammatical or otherwise are mine, probably due to lack of sleep or heat-stroke or something along those lines, and I'm truly sorry in advance. Enjoy :)

* * *

With a little groan but a contented smile, Belle stretched the last of the sleep from her system, and discovered that there was a body below her. A strange but familiar feeling of déjà vu swept over her as she opened her eyes to see the woman lying beneath her. For a moment she panicked, but then the memories of the previous day flooded back. The last thing she remembered was watching some movie and snuggling into Ruby. It was the most comfortable she had been in a long time. How she longed to have her memories back. She wanted to know if this… this thing between herself and the wolf-girl was just her clinging onto one of the first things she knew since the accident. Ruby had been kind to her, and perhaps she was growing too attached. But Ruby was usually the one to invite Belle into a hug, or snuggle in bed – not that Belle minded, but maybe she was like that with everyone. _Or, _thought Belle to herself, _I'm over-thinking, reading too much into this._ She was confused and vulnerable, and Ruby had been a great friend, and that's all it was. But as her gaze fell on the sleeping woman, she couldn't help but long for something more. Her face was extremely close to Ruby's; the latter's chin resting on Belle's head. Reluctant to wake her, Belle settled down onto Ruby's chest again and let herself doze off for a while.

When Ruby finally woke up, she couldn't help but smile when she felt Belle asleep beside her. Her small body radiated a surprising amount of heat. Her arm was draped across Ruby's chest. Shifting slightly as the flow of blood to her own arm – which was wrapped around Belle, holding her close – was being slowly but surely cut off, she winced as Belle twitched, eyes fluttering open.

"Sorry," she apologised sincerely after Belle shook her head a little, a little habit Ruby had noticed.

"It's alright," replied Belle, her voice still rough and tired-sounding. "What time is it?" Ruby glanced at her phone that was resting on the bedside table. Reaching her free hand across, she switched it on.

"Half eight," said Ruby, glancing at the window to see weak sunlight glowing against the red curtains. Belle groaned as she stretched properly, propping herself up on her elbow.

"Sorry I fell asleep during the movie," the librarian said sleepily, a little smile playing on her face as she met Ruby's eyes for a brief moment.

"No worries," replied Ruby, leaning over and wrapping her arm around Belle's waist, pulling her closer into a hug. "You didn't sleep after we came back from Gold's, did you?"

"Not really," she replied sheepishly, resting her head back on the pillow and lying on her side, facing Ruby, who mirrored her position.

"There was no need," smiled Ruby, secretly glad that the librarian cared so much.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Thank you," said Ruby as she sighed happily, hand snaking out to grasp Belle's. Belle, surprised but pleasantly so, twined her fingers with the werewolf's.

"We should probably get up soon," said Belle reluctantly as she pulled back the covers and swung her legs onto the floor. However, Ruby had other ideas. Belle shrieked as Ruby lunged across the bed and grabbed the librarian around the waist and pulled her back down onto the pillow.

"I'm sure Granny will let me off my shift today, due to my head," grinned Ruby into Belle's back as she held her close, Belle not even trying to resist as she settled back down, folding her arms over Ruby's.

"And I suppose the library could open later," replied Belle, feeling a shiver run through her as Ruby's breath ghosted on the back of her neck.

"Good," chuckled Ruby. Belle felt the words she was anxious to say almost tumbling out of her mouth, words that she was too afraid to speak until now.

"Ruby," said Belle. She paused, lining up the words in her head. She couldn't take it anymore. She had to tell her how she felt. It was driving her insane.

"Yes?" asked Ruby, aware of the change of tone, squeezing Belle a little tighter. Belle felt her heartbeat increase seemingly ten-fold, her pulse battering through her body.

"I…" she started, but she was so close to losing her nerve. But she had to say it soon. Ruby waited patiently for Belle to finish. This was gravely familiar to the werewolf. This was pretty much how the conversation that led to them saying they loved each other for the first time went. But she tried to quell the rising hope in her heart. It wouldn't do to have her dreams shattered again.

"I've been thinking a lot," Belle started timidly. Ruby could feel Belle shaking a little. She planted a soft kiss on the smaller woman's shoulder. Belle closed her eyes at the contact. "I… I'm going to speak to Regina about getting my memories back." Belle internally cursed herself as she lost her nerve completely and immediately changed tack.

"Oh," replied Ruby, and she couldn't hide the note of disappointment in her voice, one that Belle noted, butt dismissed as wishful thinking. "Good," she said a little more happily once she had processed everything properly.

"Can I ask something?" said Belle, staring at the wall as Ruby's leg absently intertwined with her own.

"Of course."

"Were we really friends?" she asked, feeling Ruby's arm stiffen. What she meant was 'Were we really _just_ friends' but she couldn't say it.

"Of course we were. The best," replied Ruby. She wanted so badly to tell Belle everything, but she just couldn't do it. She didn't know what exactly she was scared of, but she knew that losing Belle would be too much for her to handle. They fell into a strange silence, neither awkward nor comfortable. Just silence. And they remained that way for another hour or so, Ruby breathing in the comforting scent of Belle's hair, Belle relishing the warmth emanating from Ruby.

"Belle?" asked Ruby, a little timidly.

"Hmm?" replied Belle; and Ruby realised that she had fallen asleep again.

"Did I wake you?" groaned Ruby apologetically, only to be met by a chuckle from Belle.

"It's fine." Ruby was pleased to hear the smile on her face.

"Right, shall we get up?"

"Alright," sighed Belle in mock irritation. Ruby untangled herself from Belle and got up, searching her wardrobe for clothes. Belle realised with a jolt that all her clothes were over at Gold's, and she did not want to return there yet. "Uhm, Ruby?" she called as Ruby disappeared to the bathroom to get changed. Ruby stuck her head around the corner.

"Yes?"

"I don't have any clothes." Ruby's eyebrow quirked until she realised the ramifications.

"You want me to go to Gold's and get some?" she asked. Belle considered this for a nanosecond before she realised it would not be the best idea in the world. It would be best to keep the two apart for a while, she decided.

"No, no, it's fine," replied Belle.

"You want to borrow some for now?" Ruby could read on Belle's face that she wanted to avoid Gold. "I'm sure I have something that'll fit you."

"Are you sure?" asked the librarian.

"Of course! Have a look; I'll be out in two secs." Belle nodded and got up, crossing the room to the cupboard and had a rummage around. Finally, she found a pair of blue jeans that looked like they would fit her; and a black tank top at the very back. Hastily pulling them on, she appraised herself in the mirror and was glad to see that they didn't look too long on her. Ruby returned wearing a pair of black skinny jeans and a red shirt.

"So, shall we eat and then go?" she asked hurriedly after her eyes swept over Belle, taking a few moments longer than necessary.

"Alright," replied Belle. She had no shoes, but that didn't bother her all that much. It wasn't far to Regina's anyway and the sun would make it warm enough for her. Belle followed Ruby out of her room and padded down the stairs and into the diner. It was relatively quiet, just a few people sitting sleepily at tables, trying to wake themselves up before work. Belle took a seat across the counter as Ruby began to prepare pancakes and bacon for the pair of them. Granny was milling around the kitchen as she did, keeping an eye on the customers and cleaning surfaces.

"Did Belle stay the night?" Granny asked as she squeezed past her granddaughter, who was spooning batter onto a pan.

"Yeah, she didn't get much sleep yesterday and she kinda zonked out for the whole night," replied Ruby, looking apologetically at her.

"Ruby, what do you think you're doing?" asked Granny, her tone entirely different. Ruby noted the change and turned to face her, her earlier mood evaporating instantly.

"What do you mean?"

"She doesn't remember you! She isn't the same as the old Belle! This can only end badly."

"I'm not just going to give up on her! We're going to see Regina to get her memories back!" growled Ruby, getting defensive.

"And what if that doesn't work? And what about Gold? You're putting yourself into a bad situation!" Granny said, her voice rising.

"I'm not going to let her go! Not while there's still a chance!" Ruby shouted.

"Ruby, you'll only get hurt! Remember how you felt when she was in hospital?" yelled Granny, slamming a spatula onto the counter.

"Even if it doesn't work, I still love her! She's still Belle, no matter what she remembers!"

"She chose Gold, and you went AWOL and cried your eyes out for hours! And Gold won't rest until he gets her back! Maybe you should save yourself the heartbreak and let it go!"

"I didn't choose Gold," came a quiet voice that cut off Ruby's retort. Both women turned simultaneously to the doorway from the diner and saw Belle standing, one hand holding the door open.

"Belle," breathed Ruby in surprise. Granny looked down at the floor before hurrying to save Ruby's almost burning pancakes.

"What's going on here? What aren't you telling me?" asked Belle, her voice unusually firm.

"I think I'll give you two some time alone," grumbled Granny as she moved to leave the kitchen.

"No, we'll leave, I need some air. Belle?" she said, as she grabbed the three pancakes from the pan, wrapping them in a couple of napkins and heading for the door, waiting for Belle. Belle hesitated, but then followed, giving Granny a small apologetic smile as she passed, which Granny acknowledged with a nod. Ruby held the door for Belle and followed her out to the street, where they walked side-by-side, Belle waiting patiently for Ruby to answer her question.

Ruby walked with Belle at a relaxed pace as they strolled around the town, enjoying the warm sunshine. The weather was going haywire recently – nobody knew why. But after everything that had happened, it wasn't really at the forefront of anybody's mind. Belle followed Ruby, who was taking a long route to get to Regina's, passing by the outside of the town, along quiet paths. Belle felt a faint glimmer of familiarity with the route, but she couldn't place it. Shaking the feeling aside, she was aware that Ruby hadn't spoken for the past five minutes since they had left the diner, after Ruby had handed her two of the pancakes she had cooked, having the third herself. Belle didn't think this was fair so she halved the second one and gave Ruby the slightly larger half. Ruby had smiled at the gesture but said nothing. Having reached the end of her tether, Belle had to end the torturous silence.

"Ruby?" she said gently.

"I'm sorry," mumbled Ruby.

"For what?" asked Belle, confused.

"I wasn't entirely honest with you," she said, looking at the road ahead, avoiding Belle's curious look.

"Ruby, please just tell me what's going on? Why are you and Gold so aggressive towards each other? And why were you crying over me? What did I do?" Ruby breathed in a sigh, and lined up the words in her head.

"Belle," she started. "I… In-in the other land, the magical one, you weren't just Gold's maid. He was your True Love, so to speak." Ruby gulped, clamping down on her emotions before they spiralled out of control. "And you loved him. In his own twisted way, he loved you too. That's why he wants you back so much."

"But what does that have to do with you?" asked Belle, her heart racing again as she didn't dare hope that Ruby responded with the answer she wanted.

"Because when the curse ended, we became friends. We didn't know each other in the other land. And there was the incident when everyone thought my wolf was responsible for Billy's murder. You were one of the only people who didn't judge me for it. You barely even knew me and yet you were willing to hide me from the mob and then stay with me when I turned." Belle listened carefully, taking in every word she said.

"Is that when you chained me in the library?" asked Belle, recollecting this part of Ruby's story she told her the day before.

"Yes," chuckled Ruby. "I couldn't let you get hurt. I thought it was for the best."

"So Gold, or the Dark One, or whoever he is, he hates you because you're my friend?" asked Belle, trying to straighten everything out in her head.

"No, he hates me because…" Ruby paused. "Because we were… more… than… friends." Her voice began to tail off, getting quieter and quieter as she spoke.

"We were?" asked Belle, trying to wrap her head around it.

"Yeah," said Ruby flatly.

"So when Gold discharged me and I went home with him, that's why you smashed his head off of the counter?"

"Yeah."

"Ruby, I am so sorry," said Belle, biting her lip.

"You didn't know, it wasn't your fault." They turned a corner in the path, and Belle looked down. The path was surrounded by trees glittering green in the sunlight, streaks of gold seeping through. The path was flattened grass that had turned light brown, the rest of the lush green grass bordering it where nobody had walked. It was soft underfoot, and Ruby didn't seem to realise that Belle wasn't wearing shoes.

"Still, why didn't you tell me?" asked Belle, subtly skipping over a small patch of stones. The path was getting narrower as it led uphill slightly, and they were forced to walk closer together, brushing shoulders.

"I didn't want you to get angry or overload you with information. I don't know. I was just… really, really scared." Belle reached out and looped her arm with Ruby's.

"Ruby, you were the only one I properly trusted. I only went with Gold because the doctors told me that we had lived together. I didn't really know what to think. But I wouldn't have chosen him if I had gotten the chance."

"Really?" asked Ruby, glancing down at Belle.

"Really," replied Belle with a smile. Ruby could see Belle's eyes glittering blue in the sunlight, and knew that this was still Belle.


	12. Chapter 12

Hello, again :) Just the usual, mistakes are mine, blah blah blah. Thank you so much for reading and I look forward to any comments :) Just a short note because I updated literally two minutes ago. Enjoy :)

* * *

The pair headed back towards the town, Ruby now comfortable with filling in the rest of the blanks in Belle's memories of their time together leading up to the accident. Belle smiled as she imagined all of these events, the walks in the snow with the wolf, the ogres – she was amazed to discover she had actually punched one in the eye. But what she loved most was Ruby's expression while telling these stories; her beautiful eyes glinting, the large smile full of fondness. Belle asked a lot of questions, her curiosity running rampant as Ruby answered all of them as best she could. They were close to the town now, Regina's massive house looming in the distance as they drew closer. As they walked, the terrain changed from soft grass to stony gravel, and Belle was finding it difficult to keep up with Ruby without making her pain obvious.

"Belle, what's wrong?" asked Ruby finally, a few minutes after the grass became gavel.

"Nothing," squeaked Belle, caught by surprise by the question and misplaced her foot, standing on a particularly sharp stone.

"Belle, you aren't wearing shoes," said Ruby, stopping and putting a hand on Belle's arm, turning her to face the wolf-girl.

"And?" replied Belle defensively as she held her breath, not letting the pain show.

"Why have you got no shoes?"

"None of yours fit."

"So you've been walking for the past twenty minutes with no shoes on?"

"Maybe," replied Belle quickly. Ruby stifled a laugh and looked down at the noticeably shorter woman. Ruby had only ever seen her in high heels, and even then she was still short, or when they both weren't wearing shoes.

"You're very odd," stated Ruby fondly.

"You're one to talk," retorted Belle with a laugh. Ruby rolled her eyes and turned around.

"Come on, jump up," she said, sweeping her long hair off of her back.

"What?" asked Belle, confused.

"Jump up, you can't walk on this in your bare feet."

"Ruby, there's no need-"

"Belle, I'm a werewolf, and you're very small. You barely weigh anything."

"I'm not that small," she replied in a defensive tone that made Ruby laugh. But she conceded, and hopped onto Ruby's back, wrapping her arms around her neck – careful not to choke her – and settled herself comfortably while Ruby hoisted her up and began to walk.

"You are that small," said Ruby, knowing it would wind her up.

"I'm hardly the smallest in town."

"But you are small."

"What has my height got to do with anything?"

"Don't you mean your lack of height?" This earned her a playful slap on the cheek. "Hey, I might drop you if you're not careful!" she laughed.

"Like you would," replied Belle. They continued to joke the whole way back to town. As it was still early, not many people were out and about as they emerged from the woods and into the main road, Belle still on Ruby's back. They were only a few streets away now, and Belle was feeling better than she had for a while. Though they hadn't really talked about their relationship, there didn't really seem to be a need to. They were comfortable with each other, and they would cross those bridges when they came to them. Ruby was laughing at one of Belle's terrible retorts as she turned the corner into the street. Regina's was only a few minutes away now. But something made her stop dead in her tracks.

"Gold," she growled quietly. The imp was standing outside of his shop, now he had crossed into the middle of the road, about fifteen metres or so away from the happy pair, his face like thunder.

"Lucas," she heard him whisper like it were a curse. Belle had also seen the man, who now stood opposite them like a rival. Which she supposed they were, to an extent.

"Belle, go to Regina's," said Ruby as she let Belle down.

"No, I'm not going to let you two fight anymore," Belle replied, grasping her arms. This clearly was the wrong thing to do in front of Gold.

"So Lucas," he started, his voice sharp as steel. "Taking advantage of an amnesiac? How very noble of you," he smirked.

"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Ruby, scowling.

"If I'm not mistaken, the lovely librarian spent the night at yours last night. And the night before. You're not exactly being subtly about it, just look at what she's wearing!" he yelled.

"One, that was her choice, and two, I would never-" replied Ruby, equally as angry.

"I don't care! You took her from me, Lucas!"

"She isn't a possession, Gold! She can make her own choices!" Ruby yelled, before adding a small whisper to Belle, who stood by her side, scrutinising Gold as if he were a puzzle to solve. "Go, now. Get Regina. This might not end very well."

"All the more reason to stay," countered Belle defiantly.

"Belle, if you get hurt-"

"Then that will be my own fault, not yours. This is as much about me as anyone."

"When you two are done, can I get a word in?" sneered Gold as he approached, his cane rapping against the pavement. Belle noticed that he was lacking his usual grace and fluency in his words. He was drunk. Very drunk. He stopped a metre from them. "What good can a werewolf do someone like Belle?"

"At least I didn't lock her up for years in an old castle like a slave!"

"No, just a library when she tried to help you."

"Stop this!" ordered Belle, but Gold, held up a hand and pushed a finger to her lips, that she promptly slapped away.

"Quiet, dearie, this is for your own good."

"Don't you touch her!" snarled Ruby, fists clenching.

"Ruby, don't-"

"Listen to her, Lucas."

"Ruby-"

"Oh, the big bad wolf's coming to get me, I'm so _scared_."

"Shut it, imp!"

"Can you both just calm down?"

"Go away, Gold," sighed Ruby, letting her fury go. She was intensely angry, but she wouldn't do anything that Belle wouldn't like, so she knew she had to be the reasonable one. She began to stalk past him, Belle by her side.

"Giving up, Lucas? Just like you would have given up on Belle?"

"What?" snapped Ruby, whirling round to face him.

"Don't I recall you crying in the woods a while ago and repeating… Oh, what was it?" He put a hand on his chin as he thought. "Yes!" He snapped his fingers. '_He's won. Don't bother. You're no good._' Sound familiar?" he asked, grinning. Ruby grabbed his jacket so fast she was a blur and tossed him a few metres down the road. He landed on his back, chuckling as he got to his feet.

"You little sh-" But she was cut off when Gold's fist lit up with purple smoke and he hurled the fistful at Ruby. Totally taken by surprise by the speed of the attack, she couldn't move in time. She closed her eyes as she threw herself to the side in vain, waiting for the magical blast to hit her. But it never came. Hitting the ground, she leapt up immediately to see Belle standing where Ruby was only a few moments before, her arms outstretched as the smoke poured into her mouth and was absorbed into her chest, her eyes glowing purple, until she crumpled to the ground. Ruby lunged to catch her before she hit the ground.

"What did you do?" she yelled at Gold, who looked thunderstruck, his eyes wide and staring at his own hand.

"I…" he didn't seem to be able to process what he just did. Ignoring him completely, Ruby lifted Belle and ran off as fast as she could to the Mayor's house, the sun pouring down on her as she kicked at the door with her foot, her hands unavailable for knocking. The door soon opened, a jaded looking Regina glaring at her, before she took in the sight of the panting and panicked-looking Ruby holding a very unconscious Belle in her arms.

"Come in," she said, holding the door open wide. "Put her on the couch!" she called after Ruby as the wolf-girl entered and obediently headed for the living room. There, Emma was on her feet, as was Henry, clearing the way for Belle as Ruby laid her down gently.

"What happened?" asked Emma, kneeling next to Belle and checking her pulse and looking under her eyelids to check her pupils. She then sent Henry for a drink for Ruby, who looked like she might have a panic attack soon.

"Gold tried to hit me with some sort of spell. She jumped in front of it for me," said Ruby as she paced the living room, hands running through her hair. Emma got to her feet and tried to calm Ruby down.

"What type of spell?" asked Regina, kneeling down next to Belle, the neatness of her grey dress not her main concern as she examined Belle.

"I don't know!" cried Ruby as she collapsed into the armchair opposite and held her head in her hands. "Big. Purple. Smokey." Regina swore under her breath as she recognised the nature of the spell from her examination coupled with Ruby's small amount of information.

"What is it?" asked Henry, coming back into the room with a glass of water for Ruby, who took it gratefully and downed it quickly and then resumed pacing. Henry stood next to Regina as the Mayor got to her feet and turned to Ruby.

"I'm afraid he's hit her with a memory spell."

"What does that mean?" asked Ruby. Emma stood behind Henry, her hands on his shoulders.

"It means that her memories have been restored…" explained Regina, but she paused.

"Why aren't you looking happy about that?" asked Ruby, verging on panic.

"Because it's not the memories from the magical land that have been restored. It's the memories of the life she would have lived if I hadn't locked her up during the curse."

"So… she's going to be the person from here? Like the Ruby to Red type thing?"

"Yes. But I'm pretty sure that if I had her talisman – the teacup – then I can bring back her other memories." At this, Ruby made for the door, before Emma chased after her, grabbing her arm and whirling her friend around, meeting eye-to-eye. Emma had never seen Ruby look so angry, her irises glowing bright yellow of the wolf.

"Ruby, I'm begging you, don't go after him just now. Let him cool off a bit. There's no need for you to be hurt too."

"Emma, he-"

"Ruby! How do you think Belle will feel if she wakes up with fake memories that never really happened? She needs you right now." Ruby closed her eyes. She knew Emma was right. She felt tears brimming. When she opened her eyes, taking a deep, calming breath, she couldn't help but let a few tears fall down her face. Emma pulled her into a hug as Ruby completely broke down.

"We were so close," she sobbed into Emma's shoulder. Regina and Henry watched the pair from the living room door. "I just told her everything. She seemed just like the old Belle again."

"We'll get her back. I promise."

Ruby sat on the armchair, looking at the peaceful expression on Belle's face. Ruby couldn't tear her eyes away, afraid that if she did, Belle would stop breathing and she'd lose her for good. Not that it would happen, but the way her luck had been going, it was likely. It wasn't fair, she thought. Why was it Charming and Snow got their happy ending, and yet she kept getting so close, and then having it ripped away? Not that she wasn't happy for Snow and Charming, but it just seemed that everyone else was happy with the way things turned out, while she repeatedly got hers stomped on by Gold. Well, at least she seemed better than Gold, she reflected. Belle stirred after a further hour, in which Ruby remained in the armchair, only leaving when Henry and Emma dragged her to eat some lunch, cooked by Regina, and then she was back on the chair, watching over Belle fiercely. Henry had come in and distracted her for a while, which she appreciated and actually enjoyed for a while. They just sat and talked about random things. Ruby made a note to talk to the boy more often, they were pretty good friends. When Belle woke, Ruby was immediately at her side, not sure what to expect.

"Where am I?" she asked groggily. At least she still sounds like Belle, thought Ruby.

"In Regina's house. There was an incident earlier, you were knocked unconscious by Gold."

"Mr Gold? Isn't he that old guy that runs the shop?" she asked, rubbing her head.

"Yes."

"And you're…" she paused, a smirk on her face as she sat up, trying to recall her identity. "Ruby, right?" Ruby nodded.

"Why do I remember seeing a man throw some sort of smoke at me?" she asked, groaning in pain as her headache got worse. Her eyes then flew open as she thought about how that sounded. "Does that sound crazy?" she asked.

"Not really," replied Ruby with a smile. But then she remembered that this Belle wouldn't know about magic, as this was the real world Belle. She would have to explain _again_, she realised, rolling her eyes. "Listen, Belle-"

"Wait, who's Belle?" asked… Ruby didn't even know who she was.

"Uh… What's your name?" asked Ruby, rubbing her neck. She was tired of this, but instead of fury rearing up inside her as she expected, it was instead just a solemn feeling of resignation. She was done fighting Fate. For the moment at least.

"Lacey," she replied, a tiny hint of flirtatiousness in her voice.

"Lacey, I have to tell you something, and it'll sound crazy, but I swear it's true…"

With a little help from Emma, Regina and Henry, they managed to tell 'Lacey' the entire story about the Enchanted Forest and the curse and everything. Lacey asked minimal questions and listened, scoffing occasionally but she seemed to believe it. When Ruby got to the part about their relationship, she was shocked to see Lacey blatantly check her out and then nod in approval. She still looked like her Belle. Ruby was finding it difficult to work out how she felt about this, so she opted to ignore her emotions until she could deal with them.

"So where do I live?" asked Lacey as she and Ruby finally left the Mayor's house in the early evening.

"Uhm, you lived in the apartment above the library, the Inn, with me and Gold's. Not necessarily in that order," she said as they walked. She felt quite uncomfortable, not yet used to this Lacey. She was brash, crude and altogether not like Belle. She laughed – at least her laugh sounded vaguely like Belle's – and then slid her hands into her back pockets of her jeans.

"But where do I live now?" she asked.

"You were living with Gold while we tried to get your memories back, but then there was the thing and you stayed at mine. If you want, I can get you a room at the Inn, if you want to get used to things. It must be difficult for you."

"That's nice, thanks," said Lacey, smiling warmly for the first time, without any smirking or flirting.


	13. Chapter 13

I first of all want to apologise for this chapter, but it was so good to write. And again, all continuity/grammatical/otherwise mistakes are mine and I thank you so much for sticking with this story up to this point. There's a bit of a strange time-skip coming up in future chapters, just to say and I hope you like it and stick with it :)

* * *

Ruby woke up at one in the morning as she heard someone crashing around downstairs. A mild swear let her know it was Belle- Lacey. It was Lacey. Worried, Ruby got up and hurried quietly down the stairs before she woke anybody.

"Lacey!" she hissed quietly as she descended the stairs into the hallway. In the darkness, she could see something moving around, but was startled when she felt a warm body fall into her halfway down the stairs. Thankful for her strength and balance, she managed to catch what she now realised was Lacey and hold her steady. She could smell the alcohol on her. "Have you been drinking?"

"Maybe a little," she slurred as she tried to squeeze past Ruby, but all she ended up doing was getting herself trapped between the wall and Ruby on the narrow staircase. She could just make out Ruby's disapproving look in the darkness. "Oh, lighten up. You never used to be quite the little angel either, if the rumours are true."

"Just be quiet and go to bed."

"Yours or mine?" she asked as she ran her hands up and down Ruby's sides, brushing her neck.

"Yours. You need to sober up," Ruby demanded, ignoring the tingle that Lacey's hands left on her skin.

"Spoilsport," grinned Lacey as she tried to climb the stairs, tripping over every now and then. Ruby rolled her eyes and clenched her fists in frustration as she followed her. "Hey," said Lacey when she reached her room, leaning back against the door and pulling Ruby closer by the hand. "Are we still together? What's going on with all this?" she asked.

"I don't really know," replied Ruby, freeing her hands and walking quickly to her room. She didn't want to talk about it, not with Bel- Lacey in such a state.

"Cause I think I kinda got a date with Gold earlier." Ruby froze for a moment at Lacey's tone. It was so much like Belle's that it hurt all the more.

"Fantastic," replied Ruby flatly as she slammed her door and collapsed onto the bed, pulling the pillow over her face and muffling her sobs.

The next morning, Ruby dragged herself out of bed and into the kitchen to make herself breakfast. She considered knocking on Lacey's door to talk to her, but she opted not to, continuing on her way to the kitchen. She mumbled a greeting to Granny, who left her alone. She made her breakfast, and then took it upstairs to her room, where she ate in peace, alone with her thoughts. However, it didn't last long, as Granny shouted her down to do her shift. So she showered and dressed, venturing down the stairs and into the diner. She was glad of the work; it numbed her pain behind the mask of routine. However, when she came down for her shift in the evening, walking in from the kitchen to the diner, she cast her gaze around the diner and immediately about-turned and hid in the kitchen, trying not to panic. Granny noted her anxiety and poked her head around the door, to see Gold sitting with Lacey.

"Ruby, I'm so sorry," said Granny, moving back into the kitchen.

"Please, Granny, can I take another shift? I'll work all day tomorrow, but please don't make me go out there," she pleaded, close to tears. Granny took sympathy on her granddaughter and she nodded, guiding the panicked Ruby towards the door. It was nearing the full moon again and Ruby was always edgier than usual around this time. Granny went out to see Lacey dressed in a… well, a dress was barely an adequate description, blue and sequins and barely socially acceptable. Soon enough, she delivered their meals to them – noting Lacey's inebriated state – and couldn't help but make a comment.

"What happened to you? Did you raid the back of Ruby's closet?" she asked curtly. Lacey looked a little confused but Gold was glaring at her. Her work done, she returned to the kitchen, grinning at her own joke. She could hear Lacey asking Gold what she meant, but Gold told her to forget it. He sounded angry. This only made Granny's smile wider.

Ruby's senses were in overload, and she couldn't help but zone in on Bel-Lacey's voice all the way from downstairs, the faint scent enough to make Ruby long for closer proximity. Finally having enough, she decided to leave. It was too much. Mumbling an explanation to Granny, poking her head through the kitchen door, she grabbed her coat and left the establishment. As she padded down the steps in her boots, she glanced back, hearing Granny's little comment about her closet and couldn't help but chuckle at her grandmother's sense of humour. She continued on her way to the one place she hadn't been for a while, her old home away from home when she was cursed – the Rabbit Hole. As she stepped through the doorway, she saw everything through Red's eyes instead of Ruby's, and she saw this place a lot differently. Strolling up to the bar, she sat down and ordered a beer from the bartender.

"Ruby?" he said, quirking an eyebrow. "Is that you?" Ruby smiled, realising that she must look entirely different from normal.

"Yes," she replied.

"You look so…" the bartender paused, trying to think of an adjective.

"_Hot_," came a voice from behind them. Ruby rolled her eyes and turned, seeing a tall man with dark hair grinning at her.

"Thanks," she said flatly, downing a gulp of beer only a second after the bartender put it on the counter, coupled with an apologetic look.

"Want to dance?" he asked, leering at her, more than a little drunk.

"No, thank you," replied Ruby, turning back to the bar.

"Hey, don't ignore me!" he hissed, gripping her shoulder and pulling her back around. Ruby slammed the bottle onto the counter loudly and leapt to her feet, grabbing the hand on her shoulder and twisting it, forcing the man to his knees.

"I'll do whatever the hell I like! And I'm not in the mood for your bullshit!" she yelled, her eyes glowing yellow, before she kicked him – not hard enough to damage him too badly – in the stomach before letting him go, returning to her seat and ignoring all of the onlookers who were staring at her.

"Can I have another?" she asked, finishing the beer and tipping it to the bartender.

After a while and a few more beers, Ruby found the bar scene a little lacking. The music didn't thrill her any more, she didn't feel like dancing and she didn't want to deal with the drunk men swarming on her to get her to dance – and that was only the few polite ones. She felt a little ashamed that Ruby probably would have loved all the attention, but she knew that there was only one person who could make her feel better. So Ruby got up and left, squeezing through the thronging crowd and throwing open the door, letting the cool air wash over her as she headed back home. Her thoughts swirled like a thick fog in her mind, making things harder to see the more she thought about it. But she couldn't help but think of scenarios where she could get Belle back and they'd be happy, Gold having nothing to do with them any more. But they were just fantasies. She had a feeling that maybe her fairytale wasn't meant to have a happy ending in any land. She was just that bad a person. A murderer. A beast. She swallowed back tears as she walked in the light of the street-lamps. The inn loomed in front of her, growing closer by the minute. She considered going to see one of her friends, but Emma was with Regina and she didn't want to intrude. Snow and Charming were the same. And she didn't think she could discuss personal things with any of her other friends. Sighing, she approached the steps that led back inside. Her ears twitched at a small sound from behind the dumpsters. Ruby paused and then shuffled over to check it out. It might be Pongo again. She missed Pongo, maybe she would go take him for a walk soon. However, as she approached the location of the sounds, she discovered it wasn't the dog. There was the man she had threatened in the bar. And wrapped around him was Lacey.

Ruby felt the simultaneous urge to hit something coupled with wanting to curl up and cry, or beg Lacey to stop, to rip the man's head off and tear him away from Belle-

"No," she whispered, the noise barely even registering as speech it was so quiet. Instead, Ruby fled to her room, grateful that the pair had been too busy to notice her. On her way, she nearly ripped a door off of its hinges, her anger lending to her strength. She went straight to her room and slammed the door shut, collapsing on the bed and crying until she fell asleep. One thought before she gave into her exhaustion was that at least Gold didn't have her either. At least she still had that.

The next morning, Ruby woke up with a newfound determination coursing through her. She had fallen asleep in her clothes, and didn't even bother to change before she got up and left the Inn. It was only seven or so in the morning, but this was the first night of the full moon, and it seemed that Ruby's wolf was about to do what Ruby couldn't. Striding in the weak morning sunlight, she crossed the street and headed straight for Gold's shop. Her face was set, hard and stony, and anyone who ran into her on that fateful morning would have given her a wide berth. All but one, Ruby reconsidered as a familiar blonde sprinted out to meet her.

"Ruby, what are you doing?" she asked urgently, noting Ruby's refusal to even acknowledge her presence.

"I'm getting Belle back," she replied through gritted teeth, eyes focused forwards.

"You look like you're going to kill someone," Emma carefully noted, a little fearful of Ruby's glinting eyes.

"It's not part of the immediate plan. Might happen though."

"Ruby, stop and think about this!" shouted Emma, jumping in front of Ruby and bracing her hands against Ruby's shoulders. Ruby stepped around her and brushed her aside as effectively as sweeping a fly off her clothing.

"I have thought about it."

"Gold could kill you!"

"Let him try," she snarled, coming to the front door. She tried the door. It was locked. She then backed up a few paces.

"Ruby, if you break in there, I'll have to arrest you!" yelled Emma, trying to stand in front of her.

"Emma!" growled Ruby, glowering down at the blonde, whose eyes widened in shock at Ruby's golden-eyed, furious expression. She was beyond reasoning with, Emma knew. "I don't want to hurt you, but if you get in my way, I can't promise I won't! Now please _move_," she growled, lining herself up to batter the door. Emma realised that Ruby was going through the door no matter who was standing in the way. Scurrying aside, she flipped open her phone.

"You need to get to Gold's. Now." She shut it again just in time to see Ruby blur out of focus and a moment later, the door buckled and fell. Ruby strode inside, closely followed by Emma.

"Ruby, stop this!" she pleaded. "Think about Belle, she wouldn't want this-"

"BELLE IS GONE!" yelled Ruby, grasping Emma tightly by the shoulders and moved her out of the way, forcefully but careful not to hurt her. "But I can get her back," she added, a lot quieter as she looked around the room full of antiques, before making a decision and leaping gracefully over the counter and searching the cupboards.

"What on earth is going on here?" demanded Gold as he appeared – again in his suit – _How the hell does he always have one on? _thought Emma absently.

"Back off, Gold," growled Ruby as she searched.

"Lucas, get your filthy nose out of my business! And Sherriff," he addressed Emma, who stood near the door, unsure of what was happening, and unable to do anything. She met his gaze angrily. "Unless I'm very much mistaken…" His tone was deadly, anger barely concealed. "The mutt has broken the law, and therefore should be arrested. And unless you have a warrant, you should leave too." Emma bristled at this, but didn't turn and leave, but walked right up to Gold, who was heading towards Ruby and stepped in front, barring his way.

"Dearie, the only reason you aren't a pile of ash on the ground right now is because you're Henry's mother."

"Well, I guess I'm not moving then," grinned Emma, folding her arms. She could smell alcohol on Gold, which she found odd, but he did look a little drunk.

"Move, dearie," he said through gritted teeth, raising his hand towards her shoulder.

"If you touch me, I'll tackle you to the ground and arrest you," said Emma calmly but her voice was like steel.

"It won't end very well for you," he said, before he winced when Ruby chucked some old, nearly dead rose in a bell-jar across the room in her haste to find the cup. It smashed on the floor a short distance from Gold, who seethed with rage.

"Move!" he yelled. Emma didn't. Gold raised a hand to Emma, who blocked and returned with a jab of her own to his chest. He gave a drunken roar before raising the cane above his head and brought it down. Emma raised her arm to attempt to block it, but the blow never came. Instead, she saw Gold crashing across the room, battering off of a few glass cases, showering shards everywhere. He slamming into a wall and slid to the ground, before a strange vine seemed to grow around him, trapping him.

"Touch her again and you die, imp," said Regina, stepping into the shop, one hand pointed towards Gold. She was wearing the first thing she could grab after Emma had called her, as this was one of the rare occasions where she had the opportunity to sleep in from work. But the universe had other plans, and she grabbed a black tank top and a pair of jeans – she still had her heels though. But apart from the shoes, she looked very much like Emma, which was a little disconcerting. Her hair was tied back off of her face in a short ponytail.

"Are you okay?" she asked Emma.

"Yeah, fine." Emma looked her up and down, raising an eyebrow. "Are you wearing my clothes?"

"If you had given me a little warning, I could be more appropriately clothed," replied Regina with a hint of irritation.

"Well, I'm sorry. Next time I'll call ahead of time because _obviously_ I can tell when my friends are about to go on murderous rampages," she answered sarcastically. Regina scowled at her, but a grin played on her face. All four of them jumped slightly as a loud voice sounded from behind the door at the back that Gold had left hanging open.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF SATAN IS GOING ON DOWN HERE?" yelled Lacey as she trudged down the stairs and hung into the room through the doorway, her left arm bracing against the door frame as she leaned into the room, a glass of whisky or some other spirit in her hand. Then her jaw dropped. Her eyes went to Emma and Regina standing in the middle of the small shop, surrounded by broken objects and smashed glass. Then there was Gold, struggling weakly in the corner, enveloped in some type of plant. Then she saw an old glass goblet fly across the room, smashing against the wall. She followed the noises and saw Ruby rummaging through the cupboards.

"How much did I drink?" she asked the room in general, waiting for someone to tell her that she was imagining it.

"Uhm, Lacey?" said Emma after a quick glance at Ruby, who was completely ignoring Lacey's presence. Lacey focused on the blonde. "We can explain-"

"FOUND IT!" screamed Ruby, holding the cup aloft as she pulled her head out of the last cupboard.

"Bring it here!" ordered Regina. Ruby did so, scrambling over the counter, ignoring the cut on her hand she received from a bit of broken glass. Regina touched it with her free hand and closed her eyes. The chipped cup shimmered light blue for a moment, and Emma saw that Ruby's eyes were fading back to normal hazel. "Get her to concentrate on it. Quickly!" said Regina. Ruby turned towards Lacey, who had approached them from behind. She looked curious, so much like Belle. Ruby stepped towards her, towering over the curly haired girl.

"Wh-what are you doing?" she stuttered as she backed away from Ruby.

"Look at it," growled Ruby. She was so close. So very close.

"N-no," said Lacey, truly scared for the first time. She backed away, Ruby closing the distance easily until she felt the wall behind her.

"Look at it," Ruby repeated, placing a hand on the wall, pinning Lacey. "Just do it," she said after a moment, her eyes pleading. She forced it into Lacey's hands and gripped her wrists – softly – and raised it to Lacey's line of sight. "Please remember," she whispered.

"Why?" asked Lacey, still confused, looking up at her with wide, blue eyes.

"Please." Ruby moved unintentionally closer. Lacey glanced at the cup, then at Gold, then Ruby.

"No!" she yelled and wrenched her arms free of Ruby and tossing the cup away. The cup flew out of her hands, arcing over their heads. Ruby snarled in frustration, panic and fear. She was too close. She shoved Lacey aside as she leapt into the air, arms stretched out to catch the little cup that held her happiness. Her hand reached out as far as she could force it, her joints straining, muscles groaning as her hand rushed the cup. However, her hand clasped only the air, as she fell back down to earth with a loud thump. The glass that had embedded itself in her back didn't matter – she couldn't feel it. Nor did she notice the air rushing out of her lungs as she was winded, or the pain in her chest. All she could see was the cup falling back to the ground, where it would shatter and kill all of her hopes dead.


	14. Chapter 14

Hey guys, I am so glad that people are taking the time to read this and follow it and everything else, and just thanks, I know I do this every time. The usual all mistakes are mine, please review and so on :)

* * *

Just as the cup was about to land on the hard floor of the shop, Emma threw herself across the room, diving forwards to catch it. She was sure she wasn't going to make it, but as her chin battered against the shop floor, she felt the cup land softly in her outstretched hands.

"Holy fu-" she gasped as she felt the pain build in her head from the blow. Ruby was already on her feet, coughing and wheezing, blood staining her top in various places as she thanked Emma before turning towards Lacey. Who was gone. Ruby hurled another apology over her shoulder as she sniffed the air and took off after the girl. Emma grunted as Regina knelt beside her, soft hands soothing her growing headache. Her jaw felt as if it were on fire.

"Are you alright?" asked the Queen tenderly. Emma tried to nod but discovered that it was a bad idea. "Here," said Regina as she ran her fingers up and down Emma's face, erasing the pain gradually.

"Where's Ruby?" mumbled Emma, wincing as the pain spiked. Regina scowled at Emma's impatience to wait until she was properly healed.

"She went after Lacey."

"I need to help her-" Emma tried to get up, but she discovered her chest was sore too, as was pretty much the rest of her torso.

"No," ordered Regina, pushing her gently back onto the floor as she continued to heal Emma. "Ruby can handle the rest herself."

"Thank you," said Emma, smiling up at Regina, who smiled back, both of the m ignoring Gold's muffled complaints from the other side of the room.

"LACEY!" yelled Ruby as she hurtled down the road. She could just see the tail end of Lacey running as fast as she could in her bare feet towards the woods. Ruby was about to dart after her, using the wolf's speed, but an arm caught hold of her arm.

"Red, what's happening?" asked Snow, holding her fast in her epic grip.

"Please let me go," pleaded Ruby, her anger giving way to desperation.

"What's with the cup?" asked Snow. Her eyes went to Gold's shop, which was obviously a wreck just from a quick glance through the broken door. "What've you done?"

"Snow, please, I need to get Belle back. Now please let me go."

"You're bleeding!" exclaimed Snow.

"I know! There was a thing. Gold's tied up, Emma's being healed by Regina and I need Belle to look at this bloody cup and remember!" Snow looked at her friend's eyes, before she let her go, watching Ruby blur out of focus as she ran away. Snow hurried over to Gold's and stepped inside, gaping at the surroundings. She felt a little bad about holding Ruby up but she knew that at this time of the month, the full moon, Ruby was reckless. And Snow couldn't forgive herself if Ruby rushed off without thinking it through properly. She saw Gold in the corner and smiled faintly. Then she saw Regina crouched over Emma and the smile left.

"What happened here?" she asked. Regina, still not quite happy with Snow after the events with her mother, turned with a little steel in her eyes. "What happened to my daughter?"

"Gold tried to hit her with his damn cane," said Regina. She paused as Snow raised her eyebrow, knowing there was more. "Then she… swan-dived the floor trying to catch a cup," she muttered quickly, trying not to smile at how it sounded.

"Emma, you idiot," said Snow, standing over her daughter and frowning at her, hands on hips.

"Go away," moaned Emma.

"You survive a fight with the Dark One fine but then you almost knock yourself out against the floor? Are you turning into Hook?" she asked.

"Don't start…" groaned Emma as Regina couldn't help but laugh. Snow looked at Regina, who continued healing Emma and they shared a fond smile over Emma, who was still muttering about wishing her girlfriend and mother still wanted to kill each other rather than ganging up on her.

"LACEY!" yelled Ruby as she halted, as she had done every few metres she dashed, sniffing the air and straining her ears to look for Lacey. She was hot on her trail. She must be catching up by now. Lacey took a lot of twists and turns and Ruby followed determinedly, not caring how many times she was side-tracked. "LACEY!" she yelled again. She heard faint footsteps to her right. She darted through the trees, ducking and dodging as she drew closer and closer, the scent getting stronger and stronger, until she saw Lacey right in front of her. She was running so fast that she couldn't slow herself down in time, and so ran straight into Lacey, wearing another one of Belle's silk nightdresses. Ruby managed to twist as they fell, so that Lacey would land on top of her as they skidded to a halt in a pile of leaves and twigs, the dirt slipping into Ruby's various cuts on her back and pushing the remaining fragments of glass further into her flesh. She hissed in pain as Lacey tried to get up to keep running, but Ruby grabbed her arm softly but firmly, preventing her from leaving. Lacey pulled herself free and ran off again. Ruby scrambled up, quickly checking that the cup in her hand was still intact – it was, she thought with a sigh of relief, before hurrying after Lacey, halting in front of her and grasping her wrist.

"Lacey, please-"

"Let go of me!"

"Lacey, listen to me!" yelled Ruby. Lacey was silenced, taken aback. Ruby grabbed her opportunity. "This life you think you have, it isn't real! You were locked up for years by Regina!"

"No, I wasn't! I just thought you were crazy when you told me! Like it was a joke or something!" Lacey struggled in Ruby's grip.

"I'm not! You really used to be Belle from the fairytale land!" With this, Lacey managed to pull herself free and took a step backwards.

"I'm _Lacey_," she replied, running a hand through her loose curls, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as her eyes glittered.

"Lacey, look at this," Ruby said, holding up the cup, clasping it between Belle's hands. "Just for a minute. And then you'll know I'm not crazy. And if it doesn't work, I'll walk away, I promise."

"But-" started Lacey, her voice shaking. Ruby realised that there were tears in Lacey's eyes. "If I'm not real… will I just die? Disappear? Never even existed?" she asked, her voice rising with each question.

"No," replied Ruby gently. "You'll be the _real_ you. This is just a life you would have lived if Regina hadn't locked you up."

"So I'll be different?" Ruby, tears pricking in her own eyes as Lacey's poured down the shorter woman's face, nodded.

"But you'll be the way you're meant to be."

"Says who?" asked Lacey, slapping away Ruby's hand. "What about _me_? What about Lacey? Who are you to decide if this Belle is better than me?"

"Because I know Belle! And she is a whole person, with a life, with people who love her. You are just an echo of her. You are what she could have become, that's all."

"So if you were Ruby, and only Ruby, no Red, would you want to go?"

"No," she admitted quietly, looking deep into her eyes. "But I'm better as a mixture. This is who I'm comfortable with. I'm more mature, I feel… whole. With Ruby there was always something missing. And I think you feel that too."

"But… I don't want to go," she sobbed, breaking down completely as Ruby reached out and pulled her into her embrace, Lacey not even trying to resist.

"Lacey, you'll still be a part of Belle. You'll still exist as a part of her. But Belle deserves to exist too. And she has a job, a life, people who love her so much they would die for her." Ruby closed her eyes as tears rolled down her face, the trees rustling around them in the breeze as Lacey's sobs wracked through the air.

"So you'll look after Belle?" asked Lacey, pulling back from Ruby and looking up at her. Ruby nodded, her lips pressed together to suppress her own sobs. Lacey wiped her tears with the back of her hand and took a breath, taking the cup from Ruby. Ruby was alert, just in case Lacey tried to smash it again, but she only smirked as she looked at the cup. It was quite nice, probably part of a set. The little chip in it made it look… a little different, in a good way. Used. Marked. It belonged to someone. Lacey didn't belong. She knew that. She was different to the rest. She didn't know what she wanted, she was reckless. She was missing a part of herself. And she couldn't escape the feeling that she should be elsewhere. But Belle belonged to someone. She belonged in this town, with Ruby. She had friends. She had everything Lacey tried to find in her short while here. Suddenly, she felt a glimmer of recognition. The image of the tea-set appeared in her mind's eye. Closely followed by a large room with large windows and tall curtains. She remembered a man, a man with odd skin… The Dark One. When he caught her as she fell. The spinning wheel. Kissing him. Her time in his castle. Her father. Her childhood. The trolls. The deal. Regina. Waking up in a cell in the real world. Repeating the same routine for twenty eight years. Being released by Jefferson. Living with Gold for a short while. Ruby. Meeting her in the diner over iced tea. Hiding her from the mob. Ruby chaining her up to keep her safe. The night in the snow when they nearly kissed for the first time. Mucking around with Ruby in the snow. The ogres. Hospital. Their walk in the snow. The kiss.

All of this flashed through Belle's mind in an instant, but it seemed like longer. Ruby was unknowingly holding her breath as she watched Lacey look into the chipped cup. She saw her expression change after a few moments, before she heard a loud gasp and the shorter girl put a hand to her head, blinking rapidly and glancing from the cup to Ruby.

"Belle?" she asked timidly, barely loud enough to hear. If it wasn't Belle, she didn't know if she could go through it again. She tried so hard not to get her hopes up. The curly haired brunette looked at her for a moment, before nodding.

"Oh my God!" yelled Ruby happily as she lurched forwards, sweeping Belle into her arms and lifting her off the ground as she buried her face in Belle's hair, wrapping her arms around her so tightly that Belle found it hard to breathe.

"Ruby… breathing… difficult…" she gasped, but only after she had allowed Ruby a few moments while slowly crushing her lungs to enjoy having her back.

"Sorry!" Ruby apologised as she loosened her grip but didn't let her go yet.

"It's fine," smiled Belle, looking down at Ruby. And the wolf girl could see that it was really Belle staring back at her, her aquamarine eyes shining with happiness and glittering with tears. Ruby placed Belle gently on the ground but kept her close, as if waiting for the next thing to take her away.

"Oh, Ruby, you're bleeding!" she exclaimed, examining Ruby's hand gently.

"It's fine. Everything's fine now," she replied, unable to keep the grin off her face or the laugh from her voice.

"But Ruby, you need to get this fixed…" said Belle, still looking at the nasty cut. Ruby's smile froze as she fully registered Belle's tone as she continued on a ramble about infection. It was so concerned, so afraid for her well-being that Ruby realised that this was truly Belle. The Belle that cared for her, the Belle who made her happy just by existing. The Belle who loved her. And suddenly, Ruby felt tears pricking at her eyes. Belle looked up, her blue eyes wide with concern as she opened her mouth to say something, but the words died as she watched a tear slide down Ruby's cheek.

"Ruby?" she asked carefully. "Is everything okay?"

"I missed you so much," sobbed Ruby into Belle's shoulder. Belle, utterly gobsmacked by Ruby's behaviour, wrapped her arms around her shaking body as she planted a gentle kiss just above her ear.

"I'm so sorry for what I did," whispered Belle. She could remember the things she had done as Lacey, and was completely ashamed of herself.

"It wasn't really you," mumbled Ruby, her voice muffled by Belle's shoulder. Belle pulled back a little and placed her hands on Ruby's cheeks, looking deep into the wolf-girl's hazel eyes.

"I love you," she said sincerely. There was nothing else she could think to say. Ruby smiled through her tears and Belle leaned forwards, stretching up on the tips of her toes as she kissed Ruby, who immediately melted into Belle, having missed this feeling for what seemed like an eternity. The world could have imploded and she wouldn't have cared. Having Belle's soft lips caressing her own, her tongue brushing lightly over her bottom lip, all she cared about was never losing her again. Soon though, the need for air became a more pressing matter, and they broke apart.

"We should get back," said Belle, unable to keep the smile off of her face.

"We should," agreed Ruby. "See if Emma survived her encounter with the floor," she chuckled. Belle raised an eyebrow, her right hand still on Ruby's cheek. "She dived headlong into the floor to catch the cup."

"Oh… sorry about that," she said again, looking at the ground.

"It's all dealt with now," shrugged Ruby, turning to walk back, holding her good hand out to Belle. Belle took it eagerly and twined their fingers together, leaning against Ruby's shoulder a little as they walked. Belle was very careful about where she put her feet in the woods, avoiding the sticks and stones and the occasional thorns. She was glad of the warm weather though; her silk nightdress that didn't cover her knees was not the best insulator for the cold. However, when she accidentally stood on a thorn and paused for a moment wincing silently, Ruby stopped and grinned.

"What is it about you and losing shoes?" she asked, hazel eyes glittering fondly.

"Probably the same thing with you and barging in when I'm asleep," replied Belle, grinning. Ruby laughed; proper, genuine laughter for the first time in ages. She turned her back to Belle and moved her hair again. "Come on," she said, hands ready to catch Belle's legs. Belle jumped up, wrapping her legs around Ruby's waist as Ruby's arms secured her weight. Ruby straightened up and began walking, enjoying the feeling of Belle's arms wrapped around her neck, her breath ghosting across the sensitive area just beneath her hairline.

They arrived back in town after a few minutes walking. They passed by Gold's shop quickly, Belle curiously looking in as they went on their way to the diner. It was still in shambles, but Gold was gone. Ruby averted her gaze, wanting to forget the whole event. She had Belle. That was all that mattered. Continuing on, she strained her ears for a moment and could hear the sounds of an argument between familiar voices from Snow's place. Grinning, Ruby could hear Regina dropping sassy comments to Snow, who replied angrily about the state of her daughter. Ruby was eager to go over and see them all, but Belle was not dressed for it.

"You want to get your stuff from the library?" asked Ruby, having a feeling that Belle didn't want to return to Gold's just yet.

"That'd be good," she replied. Ruby darted along to the library, where she let Belle off. The door was locked, but Ruby always carried around her spare key just in case. She opened the door and Belle rushed in, Ruby close on her heels. She knew she was probably being clingy, but she deserved a few days of clingy after all that.


	15. Chapter 15

Hello again :) I think a bit of fluff is in order after all of that, and there is a time-skip to Christmas - don't ask why I'm writing about Christmas in July - and it just seemed like a good time to get some really good story lines. As always, all mistakes are mine, no beta, was written in the boiling heat, and please review and comment :) Thanks for reading and sticking with it.

* * *

As soon as they reached the library, Ruby let them in with the spare key she always carried. Belle hurried through the door to the office, emerging with a first aid kit that she kept there for emergencies. Instructing Ruby to sit at the desk, Belle perched on the edge as she ever so gently took Ruby's injured hand in her own and rummaged for a disinfectant. She gave Ruby a warm smile as she searched with her free hand, finally coming across a pack of disinfectant wipes. Drawing one out, she paused before applying it.

"This might sting," she warned. Ruby smirked, her memories of the battles she had fought as Red rushing back to her.

"I've had worse," Ruby replied, grinning. Belle inclined her head and began to gently dab the wound, glancing up to see if Ruby was in pain. Ruby grimaced a little a few times, but made no sound. Belle checked to see if there were any small shards of glass left in the cut, which was long but shallow – it would not require stitches, thankfully. Satisfied with the state of the wound, she wrapped it in a bandage securely. Once finished, she tapped Ruby's hand lightly and jumped off of the desk, heading towards the apartment.

"Thank you," Ruby said as she followed on Belle's heels. She was glad to see Belle's walk, which had been altered a little when she lost her memories and when she was Lacey. It was just another reminder that Belle was back.

"You're welcome," replied Belle as she paused, allowing Ruby to walk in front as she held the keys.

Belle hurriedly pulled on a pair of dark skinny jeans and a blue top, the first things she grabbed and put on her heeled boots, before walking into the living room to see Ruby pacing.

"Why are you so jumpy?" she asked, amused as she approached Ruby.

"Full moon tonight," Ruby replied apologetically, flexing her fingers and trying to relax. She winced slightly as her wound was stretched and more blood oozed out, staining a tiny red dot through the white bandages.

"You'll tread a hole in the carpet," said Belle, drawing close enough to Ruby to make her nervous again. She wasn't sure what to do, given that Belle was probably more mixed up than anyone at this point, having her identity lost twice. However, Ruby relaxed when Belle reached up, still on tip-toe, despite the boots, and pressed her lips against Ruby's gently. She pulled back shortly, looking a little concerned. "Too soon?" she asked, knowing it had been hard for Ruby these past few weeks.

"Not soon enough," replied Ruby, smiling, before she bent and wrapped her arms around Belle's waist, kissing her more deeply this time.

"We should go check on Emma," said Ruby eventually. Belle gave a disappointed groan as Ruby pulled away but smiled happily as she led the way out of the apartment. Gold had only grabbed a few things from her apartment when she lost her memories, and Lacey had bought everything she wore, so most of her things were up here, untouched.

"In a fight, who would win; Regina or Snow?" asked Belle as they emerged into the bright sunlight, walking hand in hand to Snow's.

"That's a tough one," replied Ruby as she considered it.

As the newly reunited pair approached Snow's door, they heard shouting from behind. Or, Belle did. Ruby had been aware of it, but hadn't tuned in, too busy discussing a hypothetical battle between Snow and Regina. When Ruby opened the door, it seemed that they were about to witness said battle as Snow stood at one end of the couch, shoulders hunched and arms thrown out in frustration, her eyes glinting furiously as Regina stood at the other end, her lips drawn taut and her fists clenched. Emma was sitting with an ice pack against her head next to David, both of them wearing identical expressions of irritation and frustration at the other two.

"She always gets injured when you're around-"

"What, you think I'm trying to kill your daughter? Wouldn't I have done it by now-?"

"Snow, I think you're going a little far with this-"

"Dad's right, Mum-"

"Emma, David, stay out of this. And how do we know you aren't plotting something?"

"You're judging me for my past now? After I saved everyone-"

"Ahem, _we_ saved everyone-"

"Emma, I swear to God-"

"Don't talk to my daughter like that!"

"Oh my God, guys, just stop-"

"She took out my heart!"

"She killed my mother!"

"Your mother killed my mother!"

"Your mother _made_ my mother kill your mother!"

"WILL BOTH MY MOTHERS STOP FIGHTING FOR A SECOND?" yelled Henry from the corner, getting to his feet and standing between them. Ruby and Belle stood in the doorway, glancing at each other, silently asking if they should leave. They both agreed not to move but see how it played out. All eyes darted between Henry, Regina and Emma.

"Look, Emma did what she did to get Belle back. And look, she's fine," said Henry, being the only one in the room to notice the two in the doorway. All heads turned in the direction Henry was pointing and Belle and Ruby looked slightly uncomfortable.

"Hope we're not interrupting," said Ruby a little self-consciously.

"Belle, you're back? The real you?" asked Emma, looking from Ruby to Belle. Belle nodded happily. Emma broke into a wide smile and enveloped both of them in a hug. Belle, though surprised, laughed. Ruby was more used to this. Regina walked past, completely ignoring Snow's evil-eye as she did so, but made a very impolite gesture at her from behind her back as Charming snorted a laugh at Snow's expression.

"So the talisman worked?" she asked Belle, scrutinising Belle's face closely.

"It seems that way. Thank you, Regina," she said. Not really much of a hugger, and sensing that Regina was the same, she held out a hand. Regina quirked an eyebrow but took it and they shook. Regina leaned in close to Belle's ear.

"And I really am sorry about the whole locking you up thing."

"It's alright," replied Belle. "Friends?"

"Friends," replied Regina with a genuine smile, breaking their handshake and stepping back to the sofa. Snow stepped forwards, knocking shoulders with Regina, forcing the other to misstep ever so slightly, threw her arms around Belle.

"I'm so glad you're back," she said, pulling back and looking closely at Belle's face. "Ruby was at a loss without you."

"Snow!" coughed a wide-eyed Ruby as subtly as possible, but caught her friend's sly grin.

"In fact, she –" But she didn't get to finish, because at that point, Ruby had wrapped her arm around Belle's and manoeuvred her over to the sofa next to Regina and began making idle threats to Snow and Emma not to divulge her terrible state when Belle was gone. Belle watched her amusedly as she struck up a conversation with Charming, which Regina, hesitantly at first, joined.

"You know what?" said Henry, looking around the room at all the people. All of them stopped and looked at him. "We should have a family dinner, you know, to celebrate. It _is _Christmas coming up."

Every person in the room all looked at each other.

"That's a great idea," said Charming. "It'll give us all a chance to know each other _in a civilised manner_." He said the last few words through gritted teeth as he looked directly at his wife, who huffed. Ruby was amused whenever Snow's personality shone through. She and Mary Margaret were so different; it was really strange to see her acting like the fierce warrior she used to know.

"Yeah," smiled Emma. "Brilliant idea, Henry," she said holding her hand out and subtly hi-fiving him, but only Ruby could see from her angle. A sly grin formed on her face. This was planned, she realised. The grin was knocked off of her face as Emma turned to her.

"You'll come too?" she asked. Ruby glanced at Snow, who nodded, - a little desperately, mouthing something like 'Help me with Regina'.

"Oh," replied Ruby. In all honesty, she had completely forgotten about Christmas coming up with everything that had been going on. Plus the weird weather knocked her season-tracking off. Her eyes darted to Belle, who was smiling. "But I'm not really family-"

"Of course you are!" said Snow, Charming, Emma and Henry at the same time. Ruby's eyebrows rose in surprise as Belle chuckled at her expression.

"Okay then."

"Belle?" asked Snow, turning to the librarian. Now it was Ruby's turn to laugh, as Belle looked truly shocked at being included in a family celebration.

"Uh- yes, I'd love to," she replied, managing a smile, but Ruby recognised it as the one that hid how touched she was by someone's kindness.

"Then it's settled," said Emma. "Christmas dinner."

Ruby and Belle returned home after having a few drinks at Snow's. When Belle closed the door to her apartment above the library, she turned to see Ruby throwing herself on the sofa, propping her feet up on the coffee-table.

"Boots," Belle said as she passed, picking up her mail and gently whacking Ruby's face with it as she passed. Ruby groaned but moved her feet.

"So… what do you think of dinner?" she asked as she heard Belle put the kettle on.

"I think it sounds lovely," she said, returning to the living room and leaning against the doorframe.

"I think it sounds like World War Three." Ruby pulled off her boots and replaced her feet on the coffee table, stretching her arms out over the back of the sofa and closing her eyes.

"Yes, I imagine with Snow and Regina, sparks will undoubtedly fly."

"Should be fun to watch though," said Ruby. Belle returned to the kitchen. "Not as much fun as what I had planned for Christmas though," she said, a little quieter.

"What was that?" called Belle from the kitchen, sticking her head through the door.

"Nothing important!" Ruby replied. She smiled. She could surprise Belle with that another night.

Belle cooked dinner for them both and they ate at the dining table. Belle noticed Ruby kept checking the clock.

"You want me to let you out when you turn?" she asked as she swallowed another mouthful of lasagne.

"Hmm?" Ruby looked up. "Sorry, distracted," she smiled apologetically. Her senses were going wild. She had about half an hour or so before she turned, she thought. The only thing was it wasn't just her senses that were going haywire. After a few minutes, Belle took their plates and dumped them in the sink before walking up to Ruby. Ruby, surprised at the closeness as Belle sat on her lap, opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off when Belle's lips met hers. Ruby revelled in the proximity to Belle, relishing the feeling of the shorter woman's tongue running over her own, before she felt herself teetering on the edge of control. Pulling back, she took a cleansing breath.

"Belle, I'm not going to be able to stop," she said, not wanting to do anything Belle might not want to after recent events.

"Don't you think I'd know that by now?" asked Belle, sliding her hand up Ruby's neck and resting on her cheek. "I want to," she said. "I want things they used to be." That was all Ruby needed. She grinned wolfishly as she kissed Belle again, lifting her up and carrying her easily to the bedroom.

Belle woke up, her legs tangled in the cool sheets as she looked around her dark room. Though she was alone, she didn't feel lonely. She could remember Ruby slipping out from under the covers and hearing the door close over quietly. Belle smiled as images flashed back in her mind, with them sensations that made her shiver with pleasure. Content, she lay back comfortably on the double bed and, as a test, whispered Ruby's name. After a moment or two, she heard the answering howl from far away in the forest. She grinned, chuckling slightly as she relaxed and dozed off peacefully for the first time in weeks.

Ruby made it back to the library just before dawn. Slinking inside the unlocked door, she closed it carefully behind her as she trotted through the stacks, panting slightly. Sunlight streamed through the windows as she changed, approaching the stairs as a human. Walking up the steps as quietly as possible, she fished the key from the pocket of her hoodie that she had thrown on. The air was definitely cooler than it was yesterday, greyish-white clouds rolling in from the west as the sun came up. Unlocking the door, she slipped inside, shedding her layer of clothes as hurriedly as she had pulled them on, throwing them onto the couch – she would get hell for that later – and approached the bedroom. And there was Belle, curled up in the sheets, her hair splayed perfectly across the pillow. Taking a moment to appreciate the sight of her love so peaceful, she then gently slipped inside the covers, warming her chilled body. She kept to her side of the bed, not wanting to wake Belle, but it was in vain. Belle groaned sleepily.

"Ruby?" she said slowly, her sleepy state emphasising the vowels.

"Morning," replied Ruby. Belle rolled over and stroked her face with a warm hand.

"You're freezing," smiled Belle, moving to give Ruby some more covers – Belle was a duvet-hogger. Ruby smiled appreciatively as she wrapped her arms around Belle's' warm body, the pair of them fitting together perfectly.

"You're roasting," replied Ruby with a gentle kiss on Belle's cheek.


	16. Chapter 16

Hello again, just to say this chapter's a bit slow compared to the others, but I'm working on it, and I hope you enjoy :) All mistakes are mine, unbeta'd and please review or suggest ideas, I love hearing from people.

* * *

The week leading up to Christmas was cold but thankfully uneventful; Belle had brought everything into order amazingly quickly after her 'absence' and things were blissfully normal. Ruby was back to living with Belle, though they never really decided on this. It just happened. Belle would spend her time at the library, working away. She had also gained an additional job tutoring Henry for school. With everything that had happened, he was falling behind with his classes, which was understandable. So Henry would come over to the library for an hour or so after school and they would work together on his subjects. Belle was by no means calling herself an expert, but she had amassed a vast knowledge of most subjects and had done some extra research for Henry. Usually Ruby would get off of her shift after about an hour and would bring them some leftovers from the diner, before Henry would head home. But the school had been off for the past week, and Belle had busied herself decorating the apartment for Christmas. She had kept it modest, but had bought a tree, using Grumpy's help to lug it up the stairs, and she and Ruby had decorated it magnificently. The one thing Ruby didn't like about Christmas was the anticipation; not over her own presents, but whether Belle would like hers. They cooked the roast dinner together, and ate at the table with the TV on in the background. It was relaxed and peaceful, and Ruby hoped it would remain that way. When Belle dozed off watching the traditional Christmas movies, Ruby gently lifted her up and carried her to the bed. Catching a glance out of the window, she saw it was snowing heavily again. Laying Belle gently on the sheets, glad that she was already wearing her rather skimpy – not that Ruby was complaining – pyjamas. Belle radiated an immense amount of heat for someone so small. Ruby wasn't much better, wearing a strappy top and shorts to bed, only slightly longer than Belle's. Ruby slipped on said pyjamas and clambered in beside Belle, pulling her close to her chest and wrapping her arms around her waist. Belle moaned a little in her sleep, her hand grasping Ruby's and holding it just above her heart. Ruby kissed her cheek and settled down to sleep.

Belle woke up snuggled in Ruby's arms, just as it should be. She rolled over to see that Ruby was still asleep. Grinning, she reached out a finger and flicked Ruby's nose. Ruby scrunched up her face in the most adorable way possible but didn't wake up. Belle did it again, but to no avail. Tapping her face lightly, Ruby shook her head slightly as her eyes fluttered open.

"Did you just wake me?" asked Ruby sleepily, her words melding into each other.

"No," replied Belle, stroking Ruby's face.

"Yes you did."

"Where's your proof?" grinned Belle. Morning Ruby was by far the most amusing.

"What do you want?" asked Ruby, burrowing into her pillow as if it would bring sleep back to her.

"Well that's a nice way to greet your girlfriend in the morning."

"Good girlfriends don't wake each other," grumbled Ruby with a smile.

"_Better_ girlfriends wake up each other to remind them there's a pile of presents waiting for them."

Ruby's eyes lit up as she realised and she perked up, a puppy-like expression on her face.

"The _best_ girlfriend would make me breakfast," hinted Ruby, before she was hit in the face with a pillow. Ruby hit her back with the other pillow and soon it turned into a short pillow fight, which ended with Ruby pinning Belle to the bed and kissing her.

"Belle…?" said Ruby when she pulled away, a slightly pleading look on her face. Belle sighed, knowing what was on her mind.

"Go," she said as Ruby bounded up and into the living room. Belle laughed and got up, following her. "You're such a puppy, you know," she called as she went to the kitchen.

"You love it," came the reply. Belle chuckled as she made two mugs of hot chocolate, carrying them through to where Ruby had already divided the pile of packages into Ruby's and Belle's while she waited. As soon as Belle sat on the floor opposite her, Ruby tore into the first present.

After they had opened all but one present each, they were left with the ones they bought for each other. Ruby waited nervously as Belle took a sip of her drink before beginning. She soon noticed Ruby wasn't doing the same; instead she was focused solely on Belle.

"Anything wrong?" asked Belle. Ruby shook her head and smiled through her nerves. Belle continued until she had unwrapped it completely.

"Oh my God," she gasped. Ruby's eyes darted from the present to Belle, not sure if this was good or bad. "Ruby…" Belle lifted the gift and then looked at Ruby.

"You… like it?" asked Ruby carefully.

"Like it?" said Belle, her eyes back on the sparkling object.

"It's not much, I know…"

"Ruby, I love it," she smiled, admiring the beautiful necklace. It was a simple black string with a chain at the back to fasten it with Ruby's red wolf charm attached to it. "Help me put it on?" she asked, turning and holding her hair out of the way. Ruby dutifully clipped it securely and Belle turned back around. It hung over her chest, glinting red when the light hit it, casting little spots of red light up on Belle's neck and face. Belle turned it over in her fingers a few times, admiring it.

"Now you," said Belle, tapping the parcel in Ruby's lap. Ruby tore her gaze away from Belle and began unwrapping her own present. Belle watched her with a smile. Ruby finally cleared the last of the paper to see the back of a black book.

"A… book?" she said, a little confused. Belle laughed at her confusion.

"Open it," she said. Ruby picked it up. Not that she didn't like books, but Belle was the bookworm. This was unexpected, but she was sure she'd love whatever it was. She noted something else in the bottom of the paper, some sort of clothing, but she concentrated on the book. It was slim, made of beautiful black leather. On the front it was bare, save for pristine golden lettering spelling out '_Ruby Lucas and Belle French'_. Ruby opened the first page and immediately knew what this was. It had a picture, the very first picture they had taken together stuck in, plus Belle's rather scratchy but lovely scrawl depicting the circumstances of the picture. It was the same for all of them, though some were just pictures, other pages just words. It was full of their stories, funny and serious, sweet and sour moments in their lives together, though the sour moments were kept short.

"Belle… this is amazing…" said Ruby, flipping carefully through the book. Belle smiled in reply.

"Just in case something happens again… you can show me this and…" Belle trailed off as Ruby stretched forwards and pulled her into a hug.

"It's perfect," breathed Ruby. She looked Belle in the eyes and pressed a quick kiss on her forehead.

They spent the rest of the day lying in. The heavy snow had persisted over the night and now there was a knee high coating of snow. The pair didn't want to face that white wilderness until they had to. So they watched the cheesy Christmas movies, drinking hot chocolate and just having a lazy day. Dinner would be at six in the evening, so they just killed time until then. Finally at five, they began to get ready. Belle jumped in the shower as Ruby looked through her wardrobe for decent clothes. Fifteen minutes later, Belle emerged from the steamy bathroom and passed Ruby on the way to the bedroom wrapped in a towel. Ruby looked up and couldn't resist.

"No," she said as she passed as Ruby opened her mouth, a wolfish grin on her face, as Belle barely even looking at her as she fished in a drawer for underwear. Ruby laughed and hopped into the shower. Belle found a simple but elegant black dress from the wardrobe and pulled it on, slipping her feet into a pair of black high heels and putting her new necklace on along with a black and gold bracelet. She sat in the living room painting her nails to match as Ruby stumbled out of the shower to get ready. A few minutes later, Ruby emerged from the bedroom and Belle turned to see her. Ruby was dressed in a predictably red dress that fell to her knees. It wasn't leather, as Ruby would have chosen, but quite respectable by her standards, the thin straps that held it up leading to a moderately low cut, revealing not too much of her cleavage. It wasn't tight, but it hugged her curves and had a patterned line of little roses trailing down the right side of it. The skirt danced around her knees and it suited her.

"You're beautiful," said Belle simply. Ruby gave a little curtsey.

"Let's see you then," she replied. Belle smiled and stood up in her black dress, a lot longer than what Lacey would have worn, thought Belle gratefully. She twirled gracefully, and was pleased to see Ruby's grin of approval. Belle finished up her make-up, as did Ruby, both of them nudging each other out of the way of the mirror in the bathroom, Ruby ending up with a large mascara smudge across her nose which Belle quickly had to wipe off with a tissue while Ruby grumbled. Finally, they were ready and went downstairs. Belle grabbed her long black coat as Ruby opted for her leather coat that was a recent acquisition from Emma, the dark leather hanging down by her ankles. Bracing themselves, Belle opened the door as the chill swept over them. It was calm, no wind, but the snow still fell heavily, as it had done all day with only a few short breaks. Ruby and Belle looped their arms together as they hurried out, both immediately regretting their choice of footwear. Belle's feet were numb after a few minutes as they trudged carefully through the snow, both of them slipping every few steps. Finally though, Belle rang Regina's doorbell with shaking gloved fingers. They had decided on Regina's as it was the largest. Henry opened the door after a few moments and welcomed them in.

"Merry Christmas!" he said, giving them both a hug as they stumbled into the welcome warmth. "I loved my presents, thanks!"

"No problem," replied Ruby with a smile, ruffling his hair as she shrugged off her coat. Regina appeared from the kitchen and greeted them with a smile, holding out a hand for their coats.

"Please go through to the sitting room, dinner will be ready shortly," she said, flicking her fingers over the wet coats and instantly drying them.

"Neat trick," commented Ruby.

"It does come in handy," replied Regina with a smile, her beautiful black and white dress swaying as she climbed the stairs to put the coats away.

"Shall we?" asked Ruby, motioning Belle to the sitting room. Belle nodded and walked through the door, secretly wishing her feet to unfreeze soon. In the sitting room was Charming and Snow sitting on the sofa, Snow with a nearly empty glass of champagne in her hand. Sitting in an armchair near them was Emma, who rose when she saw Belle and Ruby.

"Hey! Glad you could make it. Warm up in here for a bit. Can I get you a drink?" she asked, all a little quickly, a slightly anxious look on her face as her eyes flickered to her mother every few seconds.

"Uh, yes please," replied Belle, a little taken aback by Emma's obvious nerves. Ruby nodded too, her hand snaking down to clasp Belle's.

"Champagne?" Both girls nodded. Emma nodded and left the room with a sideways glance at her mother, who was finishing her own glass.

"Darling daughter, can you get me one too?" she asked, holding out her glass. Emma sighed as she grabbed the glass and headed to the kitchen. Snow turned to Belle and Ruby. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas to you," replied Ruby warmly.

"Thank you so much for the present, Snow, it was wonderful," said Belle, genuinely surprised that Snow would have thought of her. Snow waved her thanks away.

"It was nothing, I'm glad you liked it."


	17. Chapter 17

Hey guys, sorry for the wait. Just the usual, all mistakes are mine - do forgive me - and thanks so much for reading. Please review if you please. I hope you like this one. No beta, and thanks to everyone who has read or reviewed these. Enjoy :)

* * *

The family eventually moved into the dining room. The space at the head of the table was empty, as was its right hand neighbour, as Regina and Emma were busy in the kitchen. From Emma, the order around the table went; Henry, Charming, Snow, Ruby and finally Belle. Ruby had cast a concerned look at Belle when she had reached out for the last remaining chair, but Belle just smiled and sat. Ruby shrugged slightly and sat next to her. Emma strode into the room, her blonde hair tied back as she balanced in her heels while carrying a bowl of potatoes and another full of vegetables. Placing both gently on the table, she took her seat and turned to see Regina, laden with a large roast turkey. Everyone expressed noises of appreciation as she set it down in the centre. Serving it up, everyone began chattering happily away to each other. Belle, having spent the last twenty eight years locked up with only herself for company, this was the most incredible experience. It reminded her of her time in the other world, but even then, she felt pressured by her father and everyone else. But here, with these people who actually cared, and especially Ruby, she felt a surge of happiness that nearly overwhelmed her.

"Belle?" asked Regina, a concerned look on her face, her smile faltering slightly. Belle snapped back to her senses to see Regina holding her plate with her serving of turkey on it to her. Plastering her face with a genuine smile, she apologised and took her plate. As Regina sat back down, she couldn't help but enquire about her well-being. "Are you alright, dear?" Ruby was chatting away with Snow, reaching for a spoonful of potatoes.

"Yes, I'm fine," replied Belle, looking at Regina. Emma was arguing about something with Charming, Henry interjecting in the middle. "This looks delicious," she commented.

"Oh please," smiled Regina, gracefully tucking into the meal. "You're too kind."

"Seriously, I wish I could make food this good," smiled Belle, a tad wistfully.

"It's actually relatively easy. I could give you some tips if you like," Regina said as she gave a genuinely warm smile to Belle. She was glad that the younger woman seemed to have forgiven her for imprisoning her. She was an outsider to the Charmings, really. She was only so close because Ruby was there, and it was nice to have someone who was a little different to the others.

"That would be lovely," replied Belle. She was still a little wary of the Queen, but still, she was like her, in a way. Not in with the Charmings, who were sharing stories of the war, which obviously Regina was on the other side, and felt a little uncomfortable. Belle could sense the awkwardness from Regina, and continued the conversation about food, which soon led into an in depth discussion about random topics.

Ruby laughed at a memory from the war, told by Snow with additions from David. Henry was completely captivated. Noticing that Belle had been quiet for quite a while, Ruby wondered if there was anything bothering her. Turning as she took a sip of champagne, she saw Belle laughing as Regina smirked. She caught Belle's eye and gave her a look that said 'Are you alright?' to which Belle gave a slight nod. A pleasant evening passed, and after a few hours, everyone had had a few drinks, Snow more than most. A few times, Emma had shot her a look for an inappropriate comment towards Regina's history. Regina, however, though the corners of her mouth had tightened, she let each one go. She had a feeling that Snow, in her inebriated state was deliberately trying to antagonise her, and she would not give her the satisfaction of succumbing and causing trouble for Emma. The others too had noticed Snow's behaviour and attempted to steer conversation away from anything she could twist to make Regina's fault.

"… And then _you_," slurred Snow, waving her glass in Regina's direction. Regina and Belle paused mid-sentence and turned to face Snow across the table. Ruby, Emma, David and Henry had all frozen, all of them looking worried. "You ruined our kingdom. Things could've been so different," she said, her gaze unfocused as if imagining something different. There was a silence while every head turned to Regina, who looked unfazed, but Emma could see a small twitch at the corner of her mouth that meant she was holding herself in check.

"I'll admit that I regret what I did, but it's not like I did it for no reason, Snow," she said calmly, but her look indicated she wanted to change the topic. Not to mention the temperature in the room seemed to drop.

"Everyone has their share of problems, not everyone goes to that length for revenge. And to think, we all could have been happy." Snow again tailed off, the alcohol really getting to her system.

"Ah, well, tonight's been great, thank you Regina," said David, getting to his feet and placing a hand on Snow's shoulder. "We should really be going." Regina closed her mouth, silencing her snappy retort. She breathed deeply, glad David was trying to help.

"Of course, David, I'm glad you had a good time," replied Regina graciously.

"But David, we were just talking," said Snow. She never usually drank that much and she was having trouble controlling her thoughts.

"I know, but it's getting late," said David patiently, but with a hint of desperation. For Emma's sake – and Regina's, he supposed – he didn't want Snow to say something in her inebriated state. He knew why Snow had trouble trusting Regina, he did too. But he knew that Regina wouldn't do anything to Emma, for all their fights and sass fired at each other, they did truly love each other. "Let's go," he directed at his wife, who was getting to her feet.

"Goodnight," said Emma, also getting to her feet, embracing her unsteady mother with a smile. Ruby and Henry too were on their feet and gave Snow a hug next, while Regina and Belle, the 'outsiders' remained seated.

"It was lovely to see you," smiled Belle as Snow and David headed for the door. Snow paused as she passed Regina, who steeled herself, as if expecting confrontation. Snow had a constant urge to spark a fight with the Old Queen, and she opened her mouth, a perfect little snide comment on her lips. But then she caught Emma's worried expression, Henry's narrowed eyebrows and David's hand tightening slightly on her own. _Maybe I'll give her the benefit of the doubt, for tonight at least_," she thought.

"That meal was lovely," Snow finally decided on. Regina quirked an eyebrow, searching for the insult, but came up clean.

"Ah… thank you. Snow," she added the name at the end, for once not saying it with repressed malice. Snow smiled, a small smile, true, but it was there. Regina returned it as every other person in the room went back and forth from the poisonous pair. Then Snow turned and left, David waving after he hugged Emma and Henry, and a little awkwardly shook Regina's hand. Once the front door had closed, Emma returned from seeing her parents out, breathing properly again for the first time in over a minute. Back in the dining room, Henry and Ruby were laughing about something, while Regina and Belle discussed their opinions of Gold.

"Another champagne?" asked Regina when she noticed that both of their glasses were empty. Belle glanced to Ruby, who was talking now with Emma, both looking relieved. Belle nodded, she hadn't had _that _many. Regina waved her hand with a smug grin and the glasses were once again full.

"I always wished I had learned magic," lamented Belle.

"It's not hard, it just takes time and dedication," smiled Regina, chinking the glasses together and the pair sipped.

"… Oh please, your castle was dark and gloomy! I mean, it was lovely, but at least mine had light in it! And I'm pretty sure mine was bigger," said Belle with a laugh at Regina's feigned look of hurt.

"My castle was ancient and impressive! It was dark and gloomy to intimidate people! And it worked!" retorted Regina, chuckling as she drank more of her champagne. "And I wouldn't have had to become a slave to save my kingdom. I would've fought the ogres with my bare hands if I had to!"

"Without magic, you wouldn't be able to fight anything! You're like a… a…" Belle snapped her fingers as she concentrated, thinking of the appropriate word. Regina leaned her elbows on the table and watched with an amused smirk, head in hands as Belle searched for the perfect word. "An… evil panda!" she cried, pointing at Regina triumphantly. "A magic evil panda," she added, accidentally knocking over her glass. Regina didn't notice, she was in fits of laughter.

From the other side of the table, Emma and Ruby watched with mouths hanging open as a very drunk Regina and Belle had their weird conversation. Emma had taken Henry up to bed about ten minutes previously, and had returned to see Ruby looking at Belle and Regina curiously. She was seeing a version of Regina she hadn't ever seen before. Maybe she was finally learning to relax around people other than Emma and Henry.

"Did she just call her…" asked Emma, trying to wrap her head around this.

"… A _panda_," confirmed Ruby. They both weren't exactly sober, but not nearly as drunk as their other halves. She never expected Belle to argue over castle décor with the Evil Queen.

"How has Regina not fried her yet? She'd set my hair on fire for calling her that," said Emma, amazed.

"They seem to be getting on quite well," commented Ruby, shocked. She knew Regina wasn't bad, well, _that_ bad anymore, and they had a lot in common, but she was ultimately close to Snow, and that formed a bit of a barrier, a wall of history between them. But Belle had nothing to do with that whole chapter of their life, and Ruby was glad Belle and Regina had finally found someone outside of their relationships to be friends with. She really hoped Belle wouldn't piss off the Queen though. Or vice versa. Belle could be scary.

"A _panda?_" chortled Regina. She was relaxed for the first time in ages. She was always on edge with people who knew her as the Evil Queen. But Belle seemed just as unwelcome as she was. While Belle had done nothing wrong other than be associated with Gold, nobody other than Ruby seemed to make her particularly welcome. Well, Grumpy did, and the Charmings welcomed her, but only because of Ruby. Not for _Belle_.

"Yes, a panda!" confirmed Belle, laughing still. She then noticed the champagne glass on its side on the table. "Oh God, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed a little loudly, grabbing a napkin and dabbing at the pristine white table cloth.

"Wait a second!" said Regina. Belle paused, looking at her curiously, brushing a lock of curls from her face. Regina paused for a moment, as if considering what she was going to do. "I have an idea."

"Pray tell," smiled Belle, scrunching up the damp napkin and tossing it away over her shoulder.

"Okay, try this. I want you to point your hand at the stain, like this." She demonstrated with her right hand, the palm facing the stain. Belle mirrored. "And imagine, see in your head the wine evaporating into the air." Belle cast her a suspicious look. "You said you wished you'd learned to use magic."

"Regina, this won't work-"

"Trust me," said Regina, smiling. Belle sighed and did as she was bid, concentrating for a moment. Nothing happened.

"Told you," said Belle.

"You have to take an emotion, a powerful emotion and use it to fuel your intent. Now, we are rather drunk, so it might not work as well, but I can teach you to do magic," said Regina, slurring slightly. Emma, who had been half-paying attention to the conversation had never heard Regina drunk enough to slur.

"Would you?" asked Belle, excitedly.

"If you wish," said Regina. Belle nodded. "Right, try it now!" she exclaimed happily, hoping she could have a new pupil. She never gave Belle much thought, she was always just a thing to torture Gold with. But now she had spent nearly the whole evening talking to her, she was finding she quite liked her. Maybe she'd eventually consider her to be a… friend?

Belle stretched out her palm and focused on the stain evaporating. She considered Regina's words in her slightly dizzy brain. A powerful emotion. She thought back over her life. There were a lot of happy moments. Constant irritation from her father. That was quite powerful. Anger at Gold, but that was counteracted by pity. Her eyes habitually flicked to Ruby, who was sitting sideways in her seat across the table, chatting with Emma. Belle found herself transfixed for a moment. She heard Ruby laugh, the most precious sound in the world to her. Ruby. Her love for Ruby. _Cliché, much_? She thought to herself, but it was true. Then Ruby turned her head slightly, as if sensing Belle looking at her. Ruby's eyes immediately met hers and an unintentional smile played across her beautiful pale face. Belle smiled back and soon enough the moment was gone as Ruby returned to the conversation. The moment only lasted a second or less, but it was enough to give Belle the power she needed. Using her emotions, her love for Ruby, she wrapped it around her thoughts and closed her eyes. She felt her fingertips heating up.

"OH MY GOD!" yelled Emma suddenly. Belle's eyes snapped open. She was met with a column of flames pouring out of her hand towards the table, setting fire to the tablecloth.

"Belle!" yelled Ruby, panicking as she stood up so quickly her chair catapulted into the wall. All the while Regina was laughing happily. Belle stared at her hand, unable to believe she was actually performing magic.

"REGINA, WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?" demanded Emma as she watched her girlfriend sitting inches from the flaming hole in the table. Her gaze flicked between Belle, who from this angle, seemed to be on fire, and Ruby, who was close to diving across the table. Emma noted that Regina wasn't bothered about it, so either her girlfriend had snapped and gone insane, or there wasn't any danger. Emma put a hand on Ruby's shoulder, yanking her off of the table as she tried to clamber over to help Belle.

"She's good!" Regina exclaimed, clapping her hands. "She's a natural!"

"WAS THIS REALLY A GOOD IDEA?" The fire was spreading, and Ruby stood in awe as she watched Belle marvelling at her own hand, flames still flowing out. Belle couldn't' feel her hand burning. She closed her fist and the flames stopped. The tablecloth, however, was still burning.

"REGINA, FIX THE DAMN TABLE!" yelled Emma. Regina, still laughing happily, waved her hand and the flames disappeared, the scorching on the table and the cloth now fixed. Ruby darted around the table as Emma willed her heart to calm down, her breathing to return to normal.

"Belle, are you okay?" asked Ruby, diving to her side. She could smell burning material, but no flesh.

"Fine," replied Belle, placing a calming hand on Ruby's shaking ones.

"That was impressive," said Regina.

"Really?" asked Belle, astonished. Ruby examined Belle, determining that she was alright.

"I have an idea!" shouted Regina suddenly, slamming her fists on the table. Everyone jumped, startled. Belle turned excitedly. Ruby and Emma glanced at each other uneasily. Looking to Belle, she grinned wickedly. "We could go out the back and shoot cans off of the wall with fire!"

"Yes!" relied Belle.

"NO!" yelled Ruby and Emma simultaneously.


	18. Chapter 18

Wow, sorry about the delay in updates. As always, all mistakes are mine, no beta, I'd love to know what you think and I really hope you like it. Things might be heating up a bit soon - see what I did there? Because the magic? No, it was terrible - anyways, things should get interesting soon. Enjoy :)

* * *

"Again?" sighed Ruby as Belle collapsed in the snow for a third time in as many minutes. They were walking back from Regina's house in the deep snow, new flakes falling from the sky. Ruby, though a little light-headed, had managed to stay on her feet. Belle, however, was wearing larger heels and was drunker. Ruby had decided to take her home when she and Regina started to gather glass bottles and went outside to set them up on a wall. They didn't make it, however, as Regina was loathe to setting foot in the knee deep snow and showed Belle how to melt it instead. Ruby and Emma decided that alcohol and magic were not a good combination, and decided to call it a night. So now Ruby was practically hauling Belle through the snow on their way home.

"Sooooooooooorry," she groaned from the ground. Rolling onto her back, Ruby reached down and took her hands, pulling Belle to her feet. She nearly fell over again, but Ruby held her up.

"You've never been this drunk before, have you?" asked Ruby as she draped an arm over Belle's shoulder, holding Belle close to her. Ruby's hands were freezing, she could only imagine how Belle must be feeling. Her coat and dress were soaked through as the snow melted on her clothing. She could feel the shorter girl shivering beside her.

"Not while you've known me," she giggled as she stumbled along. "You're not the only one with a bit of a past." Ruby raised her eyebrows.

"Care to elaborate on that particular thought?" she said, grinning.

"Not tonight," Belle yawned, reaching up for Ruby's nose and gently poking it. "Awww your nose is cooooooold!" she exclaimed. Ruby couldn't help but laugh as Belle sounded close to tears at this catastrophe.

"Well hurry up then, we're nearly home."

Ruby and Belle shuffled home, and Belle was nearly asleep, Ruby all but dragging her up the stairs of the library. When she got to the door, she set Belle to lean against the wall. Unfortunately, as Ruby put the key in the door, Belle slid down the wall and seemed to be asleep on the floor. Ruby sighed with a smile on her face as she gathered Belle in her arms and carried her inside, kicking the door shut. Setting her on the bed, Ruby had to shake her awake to take her damp clothes off. Changing into her own pyjamas, she gently woke up Belle, who moaned something unintelligible.

"I need you to wake up for a minute, okay?" she said softly.

"Would you be scared of an evil panda?" asked Belle curiously as Ruby sat her up and skilfully worked the dress off of her, placing the coat on the radiator.

"I'm a wolf, so probably not," smiled Ruby as she dressed Belle in warm pyjamas and tucked her into bed while the librarian began a long rant about pandas. Ruby got a glass of water for Belle and returned to find Belle lying in the bed with her eyes shut, still muttering away.

"Belle, can you drink some of this before you sleep?" she asked, kneeling on the bed next to her. Belle huffed a large sigh and sat up, reaching out for the glass and gulped half of it down clumsily, spilling some. She then placed it on the bedside table and reached out for Ruby, wrapping her arms around the amused woman.

"I'm going to have such a headache in the morning," she groaned into Ruby's shoulder.

"Yes you are," smiled Ruby, stroking her hair gently as they lay down on the pillow.

"Ruby…?" started Belle, but she tailed off. Ruby opened her eyes to see Belle completely zonked out. Smiling fondly, she wrapped an arm around her waist and she too fell asleep.

"Morning, sleepy head," said Ruby in a sing=song voice. Belle's response was rolling onto her stomach and groaning loudly.

"I'm never drinking that much again," the librarian said, her words muffled by the pillow. Ruby couldn't help but laugh. She leaned in close to Belle's ear.

"You have to get up. Remember, we're going to Snow's for Boxing Day."

"You go," Belle moaned, lifting her hand and pushing Ruby's face away from her ear. "I'll set you on fire," she threatened into the pillow.

"Try it," goaded Ruby. "I'll wolf out on you." Ruby put her arms around Belle and pulled her into a sitting position. Belle finally opened her eyes and felt them burn with the sunlight pouring through the gap in the curtains.

"I'm never being a vampire," she muttered as her eyes snapped shut, massaging her head. The room seemed to be spinning a little.

"Come on, food and a shower will help you feel better," urged Ruby. She had had her fair share of hangovers and knew what worked best for her. Belle however, would have to work that out for herself.

"Why did you let me drink that much?" she groaned, leaning back in Ruby's arms and keeping her eyes closed.

"You and Regina were having fun. It was pretty entertaining," she smirked, receiving a light smack on the arm.

Belle stepped into the shower after eating breakfast. Granny, who had come over to see how they were, had a bucketful of comments to jokingly throw at her, while Ruby laughed and added a few of her own. Belle, used to Granny's sense of humour by now, barely had the energy to keep her eyes open, never mind retort. Granny noted this and produced a packet of painkillers from her bag which Belle took gratefully. Now Belle had dragged herself into the bathroom. She was pretty sure she wasn't going to throw up, the room finally stopped spinning and she enjoyed the feeling of the hot water pouring over her. Her headache was nearly gone, just a little twinge and her stomach had settled. After washing her hair, she stepped out and towelled herself dry, deciding to leave her curls to dry naturally because a) she quite liked the tousled look of her hair and b) the noise of the hairdryer would cause another headache.

She got dressed and returned to the living room to find Ruby already dressed and conversing with Granny.

"Better?" asked Granny. Belle nodded, but still blinked slightly in the sunlight streaming through the window.

"Shall we go?" asked Ruby, running her hand over Belle's arm, looking concerned. "We can stay here if you want-"

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm fine," smiled Belle. An idea struck her and she hurried into the bedroom, steadying herself against the wall. Entering the room, she cast her eyes to the chest of drawers upon which sat a pair of dark sunglasses amongst the clutter. Grabbing them, she put them in her pocket.

"I'll maybe pop by Snow's later, okay Ruby?" she heard the old woman call from the door. Granny spotted Belle standing in the doorway. "See you later, Belle," she said as she stepped outside and closed the door, her footsteps fading as she descended.

"Are you sure you're okay?" asked Ruby, grabbing her coat. She was wearing her black jeans and a red shirt. Belle was dressed similarly, but wearing a black tank top and a blue checked shirt over the top and blue jeans. She pulled on her boots at the front door.

"Of course I am," replied Belle, pulling on her long black coat. Ruby shrugged on her leather jacket and headed to the door.

"After you," she smiled, bowing as Belle curtseyed in return and exited the apartment.

"KEYS!" yelled Belle as Ruby went to shut the door. Ruby froze as Belle bounded back into the apartment and grabbed the keys from the bowl in the kitchen. She was not getting locked out again. Ruby had a set but usually left them in her other jacket pocket, a habit Belle had scolded her for.

Trudging through the snow, Belle whipped out the sunglasses and put them on, the glare from the sun and also reflected off of the snow made her head pound. It was chilly, but the air was fresh and clear, the snow crunching pleasantly beneath their feet.

Upon arriving at Snow's apartment, Belle stepped in after Ruby. Both of them paused in the doorway to see David and Emma talking, while Regina sat on the sofa, a pair of dark glasses, rather like Belle's on her face, her mouth taut. Snow was lying against the arm of the sofa, sitting on the far end from Regina, looking utterly smashed after the night's drinking. Snow raised her head a bit at the sight of Ruby, who sniggered.

"Bad night, Snow?"

"Shut up," she groaned in reply.

"Come on, let's get you a coffee," said Ruby, taking Snow by the arm and dragging her friend into the kitchen. Belle, smiling as Snow protested mildly at being dragged into the other room, glanced around the room. She still wasn't entirely comfortable. She didn't really know where she fitted with the Charmings yet. Deciding not to interrupt David and Emma, she sat on the sofa in Snow's recently vacated spot and let out a long sigh.

"Donning the sunglasses as well, I see," commented Regina. "It would seem we drank more than I thought."

"Did I… did I really set the table on fire?" asked Belle, leaning on the arm of the sofa, head in hand and looking to Regina, confused. Regina let out a light laugh.

"Yes you did."

"I am so sorry. I'll pay for it to be fixed-"

"Don't apologise, it was the most fun I've had for a long time. And I fixed the table, magic can create _and_ destroy. It all depends on your intent and psychological state at the time."

"Was it supposed to be that draining?" asked Belle.

"It is when you start. You get used to it." There was a bit of a pause. "Miss French-"

"Belle," interjected the librarian.

"Belle," corrected Regina with a smile. "Would you…?" she tailed off, suddenly cautious. She was used to people fearing her, and never letting people get close to her. This was slightly reminiscent of when she and Emma were in the first stages of their relationship. She felt vulnerable. "Are you perhaps still interested in those magic lessons?" she asked, going out on a limb. She was expecting the woman to say no, to shoot down her meagre attempts at friendship. She braced herself for it.

"Uh, yes, if you have the time," replied Belle after a moment's consideration.

"Oh yes, dear, I have nothing _but_ time. Other than council meetings and paperwork, there isn't much for a Mayor to do in a town that isn't supposed to exist."

"The library is pretty much the same, to be honest. I like the quiet but it gets boring after a while."

"Exactly my sentiments."

Returning home a few hours later, Belle and Ruby lounged on the sofa watching TV. Ruby lay on her side, her head resting on Belle's lap as the woman with the curls gently stroked her hair.

"Belle, this is boring, can we watch something else?" moaned Ruby, reaching for the remote. Belle slapped her arm away with the hand not currently nestled in Ruby's hair.

"No, you can choose after! Besides, I'll burn your hair," she threatened, but with a smile.

"You wouldn't," laughed Ruby, retracting her hand anyway. "Remind me not to let you drink two bottles of champagne again, though."

"It wasn't that much!" exclaimed Belle. Ruby twisted, looking up at her with an eyebrow raised. "Okay, it was that much." Belle caressed Ruby's cheek lightly, staring down at her as if lost for a moment.

"You okay?" asked Ruby, noting the odd expression. Belle snapped out of it immediately.

"Fine. Just thinking."

"You think too much," Ruby said, stretching out and deliberately hitting Belle's face with her arms.

"Excuse you," retorted Belle, grabbing Ruby's wrists and moving them away. "Are you working tomorrow?" she asked.

"Yeah, Granny never usually lets me have this much time off over the holidays. Being your girlfriend has its perks," she grinned.

"Is that all you're with me for?" teased Belle, brushing a lock of brown curls out of her eyes.

"Maybe not _all_, but it's a plus."


End file.
